Mule Day, Columbia, TN (by Lori...)

Been there, done that...and bought the T shirt....that would be Mule Day in Columbia, TN. Actually, Billy has the T shirt, but we agreed it was worth doing. More people than mules, but basically No golf carts....that, is certainly a good thing. If there was a parade today, we missed it, though we were arrived by 11AM. The parking for the event totally filled the lawns of both the elementary school and the high school....a good thing we'd done our daily two miles of walking! And this was a good day for wearing my Sharon straw hat.   We saw mule pulling...that was impressive, those animals moved several thousands of lbs. Dead weight, no wheels. Shared a catfish sandwich for lunch, and watched the storm clouds building. Only 20% chance of rain, that's what Diane said....so we ignored the lightning, etc. explored, found some amplified gospel singing...good harmonies, too loud. And I heard one lonely fiddler while we watched mules working.    Then...on the front of a shed porch, there it was. Banjo & bass, guitars, three lady harmony singers....perfect! Played a waltz for us to dance to, with crocs, on grass...but we did. Convicts brought us some bales of hay to sit on...this was getting Good! They even sang 4 of the songs we often do...that was Neat.     That's about the time the Deluge happened...but we weren't leaving unless the music stopped, nope! Then they invited us to crowd up on the porch with them...and watched it Hail for a half hour. Big bouncey hail, about covered the ground, then More rain. May be why we missed the parade? I stood on the porch, while Billy was inside talking to the musicians. Soooo....we got invited to go get guitar & fiddle....and play along! Got sort of soaked while walking that 2 miles again....but, worth doing! See us smile. Found out that we knew some musical friends in common....a guy named Terry whom we saw at jams in Florida. This group was from Alabama....Billy got one of their cards...so perhaps a future time. Not coming to any summertime things in the South. Nope.     Kind of tired now....guess we'll hitch up the camper in the morning. Shouldn't take long....Diane is outside, taking sunset pictures....she had a good day, with her girls....hardly noticed the stormy weather. We rather did! Oh well...ttyl....Lori