My Bologna Plus 3: Jul 11, 2013

Thursday, July 11, 2013

Traffic Jam on the 4th

I was sure one of them was going to end up in the drink (but everyone stayed on board and dry).

Fishing on the 4th

Dexter and Daddy got to put their new fishing poles into the lake (with Gunker's help).

The day before, Dexter caught a fish within 30 seconds of putting his line in the water and the day after he caught 5 fish pretty quickly ("3 adults and 2 children" as Dexter described it). But no fish on the 4th when we all were on the water.

Dexy was obsessed with the live crickets as bait - he was very concerned about what would happen to them when they went in the lake and was delighted each time one fell off the hook and he saw it "swimming" (floating) in the water.

Sweetwater on the 4th

We kicked off the 4th of July holiday with a ride on Sweetwater. Everyone got in on the action: Mommy, Daddy, Dexter, Grandma, Gunker, Drake, and My Bologna.

Dexy spent A LOT of time observing the "Yamahar" motor...

And being Gunker's First Mate!

Making Friends with Andre

We got to visit with Mary, a friend of Ben's from the early Seven Four Slide days, and her family. Dexy played in the park with Maria and Andre and then we all went out to eat the best burgers in Memphis. Andre and Dexter played tic-tac-toe on the resturant's kid menu. Andre was surprised that Dexy was such a good player - they tied every time.

Chicago Guitarist

Just like every time we visit, Ben and I spent some good time in the music store.

Ben got to play a bunch of rarities.

As usual, there was easy conversation with the store's proprietor about music and gear but this time, Alcorn showed up. Alcorn, it appears, is a mechanic in town who helps anyone fix anything. The conversation about music continued and the guys all talked about mutually-known musicians who had moved to Chicago. In between cell phone calls requesting his services, Alcorn told us the story of how a guy with monkeys who ride dogs showed up at last year's Juke Joint Festival and everyone went nuts trying to catch a glimpse of some dog-riding monkeys (I was struggling to make sure I was understanding his drawl, really, dog-riding monkeys?). We shared a few laughs and were on our way.

As Ben and I headed out of town, I realized that we had left our postcard purchases in the music store so we headed back. I remembered the proprietor telling us that his doctor told him he had to walk a mile each day for his health (he had asked us about how hot it had gotten outside) and I was sure that the store would be closed when we got back. Sure enough...it was. So Ben went back into the shop where we purchased the postcards (with me telling him to "do it quickly") and I waited in the air conditioned car. After five minutes, the music store owner walked by and we waved to each other (I could see he was headed back to the store). After another five minutes, I saw the shop door open in the rearview mirror and was hoping to see Ben headed out but instead saw Alcorn! Well, that explained how Ben spent 10 minutes in there. Ben finally came out a few minutes later and I told him about the music shop being open again so we headed back there. In addition to the owner, there were a few musicians who had shown up having heard that a Chicago guitarist was just there. It really seemed that word got out (probably via Alcorn) about a Chicago musician visiting and these folks had nothing better to do than to come over to the music store to talk about it.

They were pretty excited when he showed up out of nowhere! So Ben ended up embroiled in another conversation. Nobody in Clarksdale was in a rush to do anything.

Too Poor for the Blues

Ben and I make this trip every time we come to Mississippi and this time, downtown Clarksdale had changed so much that I could hardly recognize it (although the drive into town remained much the same).

Rural poverty.

Tamales out of a trailer (and we saw someone selling buffalo catfish out of the back of his truck).

The first year we went, there was Morgan Freeman's blues and BBQ joint, the Delta Blues Museum, a killer guitar shop, and a bunch of run down, closed storefronts like the Super Soul Shop.

Within the last two years, a bunch of boutiques had sprouted up. It was disturbing to walk down the street seeing desolation on the right and gentrification on the left, literally.

There was even a fancy coffee shop (the only place I've found in Mississippi besides the casinos to get a latte!).

All the shops exploited the blues history of the town and catered to tourists (most of whom show up once a year in April for the Juke Joint Festival). The poor folk who live there certainly cannot afford the blues that these folks are selling.