The nights are long and cold and scary

When I first heard this song, not many others had. It's only gotten better with time.

We sing of Iowa

How did I ever get to 55 without understanding what the Iowa caucuses are, and how they work, and then to realize, that I'm not exactly sure, at this moment still, how they work.

I owe it (homonym not intended) to the 24/7 media for hammering away at Iowa for the past three months to make me even wonder what the hell a caucus (Iowa style) is. First of all the Democratic and Republican caucuses are different. The Republicans use a confidential vote. The Democrats, well, here's an explanation.

Some would, and have, called the disdain for the Iowa process, "East coast intellectual media bashing,"

Until this point, I just accepted the Iowa results on faith. Just the same kind of faith I show each time I walk into an elevator and expect it to work without fail. Now, I find myself thinking of Iowa a little too often, and while I would hope my point of reference for those thoughts would be Greg Brown, Dave Moore or the Creative Writing Program at UI, it's more about Hillary and Obama, as I hum:

Concert of the week

Falcon Ridge Folk Festival
July 25-29
Dodds Farm, Hillsdale, NY

The annual gathering of the the tribe in the Northeast, where old hippies instruct young, and young hippies instruct the old in the uses of the internet. Just as scruffy as some of the audience members, this festival honors the craft of the song as it invites some of the best (Richard Shindell, Dar Williams) and some of the newest (Ellis) to demonstrate that "folk" music isn't some dusty tome to be pulled from the shelf. Other notable artists appearing include Arlo Guthrie, Eilen Jewel, Jimmy LaFave, Mary Gauthier. Polka hits the dance tent this year in the form of the incredible Jimmy Sturr. Just over the border from Connecticut, you can stay the day, or become initiated into the Falcon Ridge Family.