Well, here goes. I wanted to put down some observations and impressions of this year's festival in Winfield, Kansas in case someone was curious about what I thought of the little get-together. This was the first year our camp had an official theme so we had a couple of items available for the other campers to view to help them know what we saw as our main contribution to the affair. We are now the "Winfield Think Tank" camp. Or "Brain Trust" if you prefer. Either way we expect any conversations within the camp itself to be of the thoughtful variety. Our camp is not the place for meaningless banter or comments void of substance. You can take those types of offerings elsewhere where they will not negatively affect the high standards of communication we have established. Be sure that our camp is fraught with sesquipedalians.
One sign which was presented to us by a lady from Montana who is part of our camp showed two sets of feet submersed in several inches of water and had the statement above it that says, "Deep Thoughts From The Shallow End Of The Pool". Several people laughed at this which belied their lack of a sound technical background in critical thinking. Another offering for our camp came from our friends from Texas who brought a banner with them that had a likeness of the "Thinker" sitting on a toilet. Again, people with their predictably shallow thinking were laughing at this. It's so sad to see so much thoughtlessness being exhibited at the festival, but we can't expect everyone to rise to the mental acuteness that is regularly exhibited at the Winfield Think Tank.
This year's lineup was a bit different though it did include Tommy Emmanuel again. He is such a great talent and performer. Also, Michael Martin Murphy was there. I always enjoy his music and his knowledge of the history of the old west. On a more serious note I have decided to make some changes for next year. Assuming I remember to do so. It's hard to get off my sizable rear end and get around to seeing people I have met in the past. We are fortunate to have some greatly talented musicians camp with us and I can almost "feel" myself improving on my instrument as I hang out and jam with them. While jamming with my camp mates will obviously continue, I will make an effort to hang out with several others who I often don't see, or only visit with rather than play music with. Maybe a little more sleep would help too. I guess I had 3 or 4 nights of 4:30 am or later and a couple of 2 - 3 am nights as well. I did hit the sack around midnight a couple of times because I wasn't feeling well. Imagine that. Guess I'm getting old.
Next year I hope to get my friend Norm to come up from Texas. That would be a great thing indeed.
