“Whether the weather be fine, Whether the weather be not, Whether the weather be cold, Whether the weather be hot, We’ll weather the weather, Whatever the whether, Whether we like it or not”

This was always a nice warm-up when I was acting. This–and “Invictus”–got all the vowels and consonants exercised, stretched out the lips and tongue and got everything ready for clear diction. I thought this was a Gilbert and Sullivan thing but when I looked it up, the author is the prolific Anonymous, who was a woman, according to Virginia Woolf.

We are having some keen weather here in the southern highlands. As I listen near the window, it sounds quiet, gentle, not heavy or threatening at all. The crawl at the bottom of the tv screen warns us of inches of rain here in the next 24 hours.

Creeks rising, basements filling, no chance of getting any more garden work done before I leave for Kentucky.

I’m preparing now–printing out notes for workshops and buying trail mix. I haven’t printed out the driving directions yet but I will. Because I am heading to Kentucky by way of Tennessee and the long black snake that is I-40. I’m packing up some books and stuff to sell but mostly I’m looking forward to talking with and learning from other folks who do what I do. Well, sort of.

I’ll try to do a little more writing here before I leave on Thursday morning and hope to fill you in on what I’ve learned when I get back on Sunday.

Hoodoo Mama hits the road. And, yes, I’m taking this hat.