We've even got The Muckheads interested in going. Amy sits on the floor and plays with Addy. The first several times Addy came to the circle she didn't want to stay long. She enjoyed dancing some to the drums but she enjoyed playing with two other little girls more. This last time Addy was into it bigtime. She had to warm up to it but then she was right in the middle shaking marimbas, tapping on a cowbell with a drumstick, and dancing around with great joy. She stayed till the drum circle was over and still wanted more. Her dad really got into it with Kermit. It was funnier to watch in real time because Kermit was flopping around hilariously. I was in a particularly good mood that night wishing I'd have a lot more of those.

I haven't taken any lessons. You really don't need to. If you have any rythmnic abilities at all about you, you can pound a drum in a drum circle like this. There are certain patterns that get passed around and it's fun to get in on those. They are easy to learn. What I do is just listen to the various beats going on and get a feel for them. A certain pattern starts coming to me and then I start pounding away. Most the time, though, I provide a resounding base beat to help keep everyone in synch. Eventually, I think I'll be able to do more impromptu kind of beats. As they say, practice makes perfect. If I had my own drum, I could practice more. I'm still in the thinking stages about whether to acquire a drum or not.

After this month's circle, some of us went downstairs to join the open mic event that was in session at the coffeehouse. After listening through some mediocre guitar playing and singing, and a few bad poems, we got our turn to drum. Only three of the guys went up and I did, too, after borrowing Mary's drum, of course. That was pretty awesome. Those three men were the some of the best drummers in the group and I felt privileged being alongside of them. And I thought I kept up with them very well. I guess I did do pretty good because Pete, who has his own group that does drum gigs, hugged me afterwards and said "It's was great playing with you." The first time I ever played a drum was with Pete and some of his group at the square in downtown Oxford. Bill came with me and was even playing, too. We drew Pete in on a little twosome drumming and afterwards he told both of us that "we get it."

So, what's that on Miss Addilyn's arm? A sling. And under the sling and sleeve is a cast. Yep, she's broken her arm. Her elbow to be exact. Poor baby girl. It was a freak accident involving her wooden rocking horse. Her mom was right there sitting three feet away watching Addy play on her rocking horse when it happened. She's got one eye closed because she knows that the camera is going to flash. She loves getting her picture taken but she knows the flash is bright.