Day Ninety-six: Guide for attending outdoor concerts

The guide is simple: do everything I didn't. I didn't take a ground cloth, even though it rained last night. I didn't apply any sunscreen. I didn't take or wear a hat. I didn't take any water. I didn't take my camera.

I did do some things right. I met up with my youngest daughter, her husband, and his father. (They had a ground cloth and water.)

What happened was I got a call earlier this week and again last night to determine whether or not I was interested in meeting them at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival. I was. So I got two calls this morning. One to tell me when they might be leaving Davis and the second when they were at the Bay Bridge. The second was around 11:30 AM. Since it was so close to lunch time, I went ahead and ate lunch before I left. Still, what with leaving everything at home, I was able to be there by 1:00 PM or so.

I was able to meet my daughter by exchanging text messages and phone calls. Then we listened to bluegrass music, well, mostly bluegrass music. One person seemed to be channeling Elvis. The best group for me was the last, Asleep At The Wheel. They played at least a half an hour beyond their scheduled end time. Since it was bluegrass, there was an emphasis on the grass portion of it. While not oppressive, it was omnipresent.

The best T-shirt I saw was the one on a woman with the slogan: "Help Prevent Unintended Presidencies."

The Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival is actually a birthday gift to himself by Warren Hellman, a 72 years young, hillbilly millionaire who pays for a five stage, three day, free concert in Golden Gate Park, now in its seventh year. A 100,000 people were supposed to attend the 2008 festival. I believe it.

When I got home, I quickly slathered on the Aloe Vera gel and sat down to write this.

I am looking forward to my meditation session tonight. While my session this morning wasn't as personally satisfying as my first ever session last night, I was mellow all day, even before I made to the "grassy" aromas, music, and crowds on a warm sunny Life after Layoff day in San Francisco.