Almost sure...Friday

Friday, what a great day!  It appears that we should have booked longer here.  Buttonwood Bay is such a welcoming place.  We had no idea what we would find here when we started out.  Ever since we hit Florida, things have been terrific. We had a breakfast that was real similar to lunch, turkey breast sandwich with cheese.  I got coffee from the crystals packages we had brought.  It is better, but not great, when the coffee is added to the water, rather than water added to the crystals.   10 o'clock was the j am session.  Lee the fiddler arrived and we started playing.  Joe brought his banjo as well.  Lee knows so Many Songs!  I have a little trouble figuring out just what he is playing however.  They sort of all start the same.  Usually we got it figured out (all of us!) and we sounded good. We broke for lunch at the Cafe by the Lake again around noon.  Crab ales or chicken breast sandwiches, 3 dollar.  No one wants to pay much for anything here.  It is a good deal.  Lunch comes with a drink and chips.  All the lunches are put on by volunteers, which helps on the costs. We started playing again at 1 o'clock.  Our audience had grown over time.  About 3:00 a lady came with her bagpipes...Lee went home immediately!  He said you can't play with her at all.  He was correct.  The bagpipe is tuned to Bb, but at 478 Mh.  Guitars and other strings are tuned at 440Mh.  Even when I played Bb I was no where near.  It didn't matter much...no one could hear anything but the bagpipes.  They are loud!  Understatement!  I thought I would go deaf!  I tried and tried but there is no place on a guitar that even comes close to that pitch.  I know...I tried them all.  The key of E was closest, but not real close. We quit about 4.  It was time to Pee (Maybe that should be in all Caps!). Lori needed her nap, and a shower sounded good.  In order to maintain some kind of fitness regime, we walked to the park carrying our instruments. That meant we carried them home walking as well.  That would be about a half mile walk in total.  We made plans to meet Joe and Kim at the Square Dance at 7:30. We walked down to that as well. Square Dancers are very friendly folks.  We felt welcomed immediately.  Kim and Joe know lots of people, and they had friends among the dancers.  We were introduced to the caller Nelson.  He was pleased to meet another caller, even a retired one like me. Dancing in Florida is low key compared to MI.  Short tips, slower music and long breaks.  I have done little dancing in years.  But we kept up just fine.  At the end of the dance, Nelson asked me to call one tip.  He had music to 'Will the Circle be Unbroken', so I went with that.  It went pretty well.  I got oodles of compliments!  People were even telling me what a great job I had done while we were walking to the Comfort Station!  I was pleased to be so well received. But there very best thing came after the dance was over...a couple were standing near.  He mentioned that he had many relatives in Hastings, although he was from Aurora OH.  Did I know Rolly Oaster?  He's my cousin.  - Yes I do, Marilyn, his wife is my cousin. - No Way!  She is my cousin, too!  - Well then, you must be my cousin too.   His name is Ron Martin...and I know little else about him.  He is about my age, my height, and my build.  Kim noticed right away that we resembled each other in skin tone, the shape of our eyes and noses.  I hope to see him again tonight, but I am not sure I will. Pretty amazing....