I have a great job where I get to do a wide variety of projects; it keeps things fresh. It’s called freelancing; the hours can be bad, but some of the minutes are excellent. It makes up for the sporadic pay schedule. It’s also why I’m such a sporadic blogger for the time being.

At the moment I’m working on a goatsucker identification plate, which allows me time at the Museum, a place I love to hang out. The bird skin collection is awesome, and it’s a privilege to get to use it. I’m working from skins of Chuckwill’s widow, Whippoorwill, and Common Poorwill. One of the unique characteristics of the Bird Range (the collection’s nick-name) is that many of the specimens were collected and prepared by none other than George M. Sutton, one of the deans of American bird art, and a hero of mine. To study closely and draw from a beautifully prepared Chuckwill’s widow, and according to the tag, even collected a few miles from your house by none other than your hero is a thrill hard to beat.

While I’m working I listen to music on my iPod. My playlist these days includes a lot of bluegrass, with the result being that at the moment I’m wallowing in nostalgia.

Once upon a time I was a banjo player with a little group in the SF Bay Area called The All Girl Boys. We played from the late 80’s into the mid-90’s, and recorded one cd: Heart’s Desire. This week I got a package of some of our live concerts from Ed Cirimele, husband of our powerhouse bass player, Carolyn. Hence the nostalgia. Carolyn passed away almost exactly two years ago. Here’s a song from our cd, .44 Gun; Carolyn sings lead and plays bass and I’m on harmony vocal and banjo. Just listen to that gal sing and play. She was really, really wonderful. We miss her very much. To listen, click on the link below.

06-44-gun.mp3