I always wonder if the drive is worth it. Seven hours of 80 mph, down to 25 mph, back up to 80 mph. It’s enough to make you want to stay home.

Then you get there - it’s late at night and the bluegrass is floating through the air. Random Band Scramble is only yards away.

The Oklahoma wind is blowing cooler than the Texas wind can even foresee. All the stars are out. Ah!

I think the one thing I enjoy most about the OIBF (Oklahoma International Bluegrass Festival) is seeing the same familiar faces year after year, and trying to come up with names. It’s an exercise against senility really. Usually, Thad is there to remember for me, but not this year. This year, I just tried to lay low and smile a lot. That part wasn’t hard.

I also love the way you can sit down next to someone you haven’t seen in a year or two and you feel like it hasn’t been more than a week. Those are true friends, true comfort.