Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Friday afternoon someone throws down a sheet of plywood over a couple of pallets,
runs an extension cord into the mayor's office to light up the mikes and the amps, and a
band from Sitka called Belly Meat (“And there's nothing wrong with that,” says Ernie the
bass player), consisting of Ernie, Lee on guitar and Gary on the hottest harmonica in
southeast Alaska, accompanied by a fiddle and a banjo from Juneau band Sofa Kings
steps up to make the welkin ring with some acoustic blues. They play a couple of songs,
and then I read a story about my mom, and Belly Meat plays a few more songs, and John
Straley reads a great bit from one of his Cecil Younger novels involving Nike sneakers
and a survival suit, and then Belly Meat plays some more. Eagles soaring overhead, hum-
mingbirds darting around, the sun beating down, great stories, great music, and it's just
one of those perfect afternoons, you know? It is to date one of the best things my writing
has ever brought me.
That evening it's a barn dance at the community center featuring Ruben's Old Time
Band playing square dance and rock and roll from Danny & the C-Notes at the Brown Bar
and jazzy swingy bluegrass from the Sofa Kings at Rosie's and me and a hundred other
people pingponging back and forth until the sun starts to come up.
Well I went to the doctor and he said to me
Your arteries are plugged, you need some omega-3
I said Doc don't you worry, I got me a plan
Gonna throw me some salmon into a pan
Come on baby love that belly meat
