Southampton

Greetings.

We are in Southampton. It's a lovely day here on the harbor. We're seeing lots of sailboats out today, and the birds were lively this morning. I only had gotten about 3 hours of sleep yesterday, but 10 hours last night, which is a great relief. I somehow lost Thursday entirely. Friday ended up being a lot of chores to be here. I'll have to complete some of that today. We went to the grocery store, and then it was driving, driving, driving. We missed the exit from the M25 to the M3, and ended up taking the A3 to the south.

It was scenic, but that matters little to a driver driving in a place with which he or She is not familiar. I am the designated driver, although Kristi was the one who got the sleep. She is a chicken motorist anyway, so all for the better. I managed to not fall asleep at the wheel, and so arrived at Netley Village in one piece.

Jane and Trevor are wonderful hosts, and it is so good to be made to feel so warm and welcome so far from our home. Our rental car is a Mitsubishi Colt. It has an auxiliary plugin for my mp3 player, so it can easily be used as soon as I get this computer setup to download some podcaSTS FOR US. I did manage to listen to somethings on our way here, and it was nice, as I find BBC to be tedious for the most part. Well, that's not at all always, but there's a lot of pop music, and oldies, just like at home. I'll find somethings to listen to, but they have such regular programming that it means your favorite shows aren't necessarily gong to be on when you need them.

We drove to the club last night. Our hostess, Jane, rode with us. She knows the road so well to the club that she warned me when a corner was coming up, not to mention the necessary lefts, and rights, but mostly left turns to get there. I have taken to being the peacenik this time, although I try not to lean too heavily on that. My newest song "Doublewide" is going over great here. It brought a thunderous applause last night, and if I had recorded it would have sold a good many more CDs. Of course, I am enjoying the song myself, and that may be part of their enjoyment. Everytime we get an opportunity to play my songs on consequitive nights I get a golden opportunity to make the entire experience of us better. I love this.

It's now 2 in the afternoon, and Kristi is still sleeping. My understanding from our hostess is that she went to bed shortly after I did. That means she's had about 13 hours plus of sleep by now, or at least the opportunity. She should be enjoying this day, as the weather is supposed to turn back to overcast, and cool tomorrow. Today is perfect, and I'd like to get out and enjoy it a bit before it is over.

We have a couple of days here with Jane and Trevor. Trevor is a quiet guy. I think that's at a fairly deep level, because even when he's talking, he's quiet. When you look at him, he appears as a pond without a ripple on it. He does all the cooking around here, and Jane does the dishes. Their roles are reversed in our household. Jane taLKS NONstop, and has a large body of knowledge about what is going on around here. She is very concerned about everything, and will turn you in if you are misbehaving. She goes on about the speedboats, and the danger that they pose to the sailboats, the city profiteering off the property they own nextdoor, the expansion of

Gatewick Airport, and all I did was a small mention of property use in Tacoma. I was eating breakfast and didn't get a chance to get a word in edgewise, and I still am thinking about what I wanted to say. Perhaps I'll have an opportunity later. You think? I guess they are the yin, and the yang.

I should get on with my day, but it's nice to chat to you all. We'll be in Chesham near London on Monday night. It will be a new club for us, an opportunity. Kristi tells me she had to cancel them the last time we were over here, so maybe they will be very ready to receive us with open arms. We'll be driving around the M25 to stay with the Leeds in Sawbridgeworth after the show on Monday. Geoff Leeds is in rehearsal for a trip they are making to Germany with their theater group a few days after we are there.

I am surprised when someone here refers to us as "stars". I try to ignore it, but it echoes in my mind for hours afterwards. We are still far from a financial success, but having people for whom you have high regard hold you in high regard is worth something certainly, and I have needed that. Thanks to you all back home for the same. Keep the home fires burning. Steve N.

PS -- thanks for the European tour suggestions for our week off. Keep 'em coming.