While officially not tired of playing my fiddle I have officially decided that I'm not attending any more Indiana Fiddler Gatherings.. and 2026 will be my last CLifftop...Locally, I can attend jams led by great fiddlers such as Brad Leftwich and Donald Bradley ...but ...I don't attend.....The interest just isn't there.. That is neither good nor bad, just what can happen to someone who is aging.. 40 IFG seems to have been enough, and over 20 Clifftops have fulfilled my needs.. THis year at CLifftop I plan on NOT putting out my 'free lessons' sign until day 4...and It will definately be my last event. It actually leaves me with a good feeling to have made these decisions. No regrets. I'll miss the scores of people who I only see at festivals, but ...that's life........

Lee, I've noticed you haven't been posting too much here lately, and I miss your big hearted approach to life. I think we're about the same age, and I don't feel like playing as much either. I hope we both continue to sail through life for some time to come, no matter the weather. Don't forget to gtow plenty of carrots!

Day by day we're all getting older. While I never get tired of playing fiddle. There are times I physically can't. Exhaustion or otherwise. But I don't ever see the desire fading. Some aspects have peaked even years ago. Oh well

quote:

---

Originally posted by DougD

Lee, I've noticed you haven't been posting too much here lately, and I miss your big hearted approach to life. I think we're about the same age, and I don't feel like playing as much either. I hope we both continue to sail through life for some time to come, no matter the weather. Don't forget to gtow plenty of carrots!

---

Thanks, Doug.. Being older isn't bad,  but it certainly is different!!  I feel quite content in life and suspect that you do also.. A good attitude is nice to see in other people...

The real reason I've not been active on the Hangout lately is because my wife and I spent 2 1/2 weeks in England and on the day we flew home I got food poisoning and spent the next 6 days recovering..!!...The up side...lost 8 pounds of lovely body fat

There has been times I didn't feel like playing the fiddle, but there's never been a time when I wanted to stop playing the fiddle.

The sound of the fiddles has fluctuated, mostly due to hearing damage, but also setup, but i think i have that corralled, so I have been playing a bit more. The sound is what keeps me going.  I have been working on learning classical chops (bowings, positions, dynamics), Irish sets, with some Cape Breton, but not a huge amount, maybe an hour a day.

I had sent a message to Lee that I was backing off here, don’t really have much to say that others need to hear, it seems, so that’s fine.

Sorry that this is your last clifftop, but I understand, could be the same for me, too, since I’ve been playing less old-time. But where will I get my spam fix?

IFG has been ok the few times I have gone, but is short and distant, so haven’t been doing that.

quote:

---

Originally posted by gapbob

The sound of the fiddles has fluctuated, mostly due to hearing damage, but also setup, but i think i have that corralled, so I have been playing a bit more. The sound is what keeps me going.  I have been working on learning classical chops (bowings, positions, dynamics), Irish sets, with some Cape Breton, but not a huge amount, maybe an hour a day.

I had sent a message to Lee that I was backing off here, don’t really have much to say that others need to hear, it seems, so that’s fine.

Sorry that this is your last clifftop, but I understand, could be the same for me, too, since I’ve been playing less old-time. But where will I get my spam fix?

IFG has been ok the few times I have gone, but is short and distant, so haven’t been doing that.

---

SPAM fix.... Yep.  There is the chance that Larry and Katie will still go to Clifftop and eat Spam.. If they don' t go then we've already decided to have a "clifftop Spam " breakfast at our homes during Clifftop week.  You are invited..

As of this date, I officially remain an unrepentant musical nut case. I've been playing my guitar and fiddle this morning to warm-up for a jam session this afternoon. Yeah, nobody plays any music at these jam sessions except for rock oldies they do in the key of C, but I am willing to withstand the suffering related to this. It doesn't hurt that the jam takes place atop an unconscionably beautiful outcropping of lava that's occasionally tickled by an ocean wave. As I write this post I am streaming solo Rachmaninoff piano music via Idagio.