When we did enter Nebraska and especially in Holdrege, it was as if we had come home away from home. There is something very wholesome about the life in this state. For one thing people and their lifestyles don't change quickly. Even after being away from Holdrege for five years, nothing major had changed in the and surrounding area. The other lifestyle that I like is the Christian openness. It is not uncommon to meet a total stranger and have a gospel conversation. They are also very welcoming and laid back. When you make a friend in Nebraska, most likely it will be a longlasting friendship.
Our hosts are such friends. For the first few nights we stayed with the Herringtons. They not only blessed us with a place to stay but also wonderful conversations. I have learned much from them. Our second host, Neil, housed us in Lincoln. He was a great host. We had fun spending time with him, even playing chess with him. His girlfriend made us dinner and we had a great time playing with her children, standing around bonfire, singing together, eating popcorn, and roasting scotcheroos over the fire!? We did try popping popcorn over the fire, but we did not quite get it right....our tinfoil container somehow ripped and fell apart. Some kernels popped but were immediately lost to the flames. Note to self, do not use tinfoil to roast popcorn :)
One fun activity we did was racquetball! When we used to live in Nebraska, we would go to the YMCA every morning. Well now that we were back we started going again. Graham, David and I played and had a good time. Yes, I did play with bare feet and yes, we were sore for a few days. Thankfully I did not get any blisters.
We had three gigs during our stay. Our first was in Kearney at the A NOTE-worthy studio. It was fun to see many of our good friends show up. We also had a good time sharing our music with them. It reminds me of the times we would perform as a family throughout Nebraska. Boy we used to travel so much around in our big Red van. I almost wish we still had that van for this tour. Imagine, four people in a twelve passenger van. Each person could lay out and sleep. I may have been very luxurious, but I'm grateful for our truck and I have been pleased at how well it has been doing.
Our second gig was on Friday after a delicious meal with our adopted grandparents, the Clarks. It was also fun to hear all about some of their adventures and travels. They also showed us one of the Edison cylinder phonograph. It was nice to step back in time for a second. After the meal we left to Riverdale for the special jam (not fruit jam). Many of our friends showed up for the jam and it was fun sharing music and laughter. One of our friends drove several hours to be at the jam. It was touching to see him again. One of the musicians saranaded to Betsy. What good friends we have.
On Saturday, we said good bye to our wonderful hosts in Holdrege and headed out to Omaha to go to the temple before we backtracked to Lincoln for the contra dance. Thankfully we arrived early so we could spend time with Curt and Debbie Pfeil. It was nice to have Curt there because he helped with setting up our sound equipment. He even played bass with us on some of the songs. The dance hall was nice and big. Our caller Kate was nice to work with. I learned that in this area she does most if not all the calling every contra dance. I take my hat off to her for that kind of dedication. The dancers seemed to be pretty experienced and even the new dancers picked up the dances pretty quickly. In such situations, three hours pass very quickly.
Our host, Neil was very nice. He had two spare bedrooms and four beds. One had silk sheets, called the Diva Bed.....that one went to Graham :) After several attempts, Graham finally was able to stay in the Diva Bed. (For further detail look up https://youtu.be/utF3Pwd-Zw4). On Sunday evening Nina, Neil's girlfriend and one of the contra dancers, invited us over to her house to eat supper. It was fun to spend time with her and her three children. We even had a bonfire, ate popcorn and roasted scotcheroos....the scotcheroos got really soft and warm but they did not really roast. Oh yes, we also sang around the fire. It was good that we had this break because we had a long trip ahead of us.
Thank you to all our friends in Nebraska for making our stay fun and well worth it.
Until next time,
Seth
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