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Just wanted to note that Tom Neilson and Jay Mankita were among the new folk at Kerrville this year!

Congrats guys.

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Marty my home

Experience is that marvelous thing that enables you
recognize a mistake when you make it again!

KERRVILLE FESTIVAL JOURNAL

I just got back from the Kerrville Folk Festival in Texas - 90 to 100 degree
weather most days, but somehow most of us survived pretty well, except
for the unfortunate 100 or so that went down with some weird stomach
flu!

I didn't win the 'New Folk' competition that I was a finalist in, but I
had a great time. If you'd like to hear the live version I performed of
'They Lied', it's available as an MP3 from my website (free download
here) (http://jaymankita.com/downloads.html)

There are so many folks who volunteer to make Kerrville a great experience, and so many
wonderful hosts - it's like living in a village which revolves around
music. For those of you who have never gone - check it out here (http://www.kerrvillefolkfestival.com)

Some nature notes...

Driving over the Medina Mountain pass, we saw a
tarantula crossing the road. We stopped, and got a closer look at it.
The whole time, I was looking all around to make sure there weren't
more about to get us!

Every night, I went to sleep in my screen tent
under the stars, hearing several Barred Owls singing their beautiful
"who cooks for you" song.

A 7 inch long centipede dropped from a tree one afternoon right on a
friend of mine, who jumped pretty high in the air... the centipede
raced around the chair (faster than a small lizard) until it found a
corner it could fold up on for camouflage) Creepy, but really beautiful.

Fire Ants can really get you if you step in their nest. I escaped this time!

In the car, a weird Texas cockroach ran onto the dashboard. I started
shaking out the shirt I had on my lap, and found one of these beautiful
scorpions instead. Luckily, we were able to part company very (very)
quickly
without harm coming to either one of us!

Grackles are my favorite Texas bird. It sounds like they are saying
"grackle, grackle", and they are not shy. One tried to go inside my
tent looking for food.

These Spotted Gars look prehistoric to me, but
that's probably because they are! Swimming in the Medina, we saw mostly
catfish and perch, but I saw these in the Guadalupe on a canoe trip.


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Jay Mankita
http://jaymankita.com