Zuma

I'm writing from Zuma, a coffeehouse in downtown Marshall, NC. Zuma is a cool place that occupies the space of the old Home Electric, which was here when I was growing up in this area. Mom and Dad bought their appliances from Home Electric--washer, dryer, refrigerator and so on. My uncle Harold traded instruments--mandolins and fiddles with a guy who worked here for years. Leonard Baker was the owner of Home Electric, and my brother Jerry rented a garage apartment from his wife Lib and him for many years--late '80s, I think, until a couple of years ago--for $150 a month. Probably not many deals like that around any more.

I traveled to Nashville recently and spent a couple of days with my good friends Mark and jb there (along with Mark's wife Becky and son Tom). We had a fine time eating, remembering the old days, watching baseball, driving around. I was a little sorry to have to leave.

While I was there, a wild hair sent me to the telephone book on the off chance that I might learn the whereabouts of a man I knew as Earl Richards but whose real name was Earl Sinks. We worked together for a lot of years, and it wasn't until after we'd been finished with each other for several more years that I found out he was crooked, using me and my music for his own personal gain. I guess I should've brought along a dozen eggs when I found his house, but I didn't.

More on that later.

Anyway, it was during this trip that I remembered that once upon a time on this blog I was in the process of telling my Nashville story. I think that I got through all of my "Prelude to Nashville" but no further. I'll try to pick that up again soon.

Thanks again to Mark and jb for a great little trip. And, Earl, I'm thinking about forgiveness, but I have a story to tell first.