OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA 
The mass beagle migration of 2007. Eight of them. Plus four parents. Plus they’ve already given away three of them. For better or for worse, all these puppies are already spoken for – on the one hand, it’s good that we don’t have the option of taking any with us, because that would be bad. On the other hand, I kind of wish we had the option of taking one with us. OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA This is the epitopuppy. The penultimate beagle baby. A couple of weeks old, cute as Hell. You want to Love him forever, don’t you? OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA Heather, pleased as punch with Steve’s beasties coming and going from all corners. Rowan was a giant among beagles. Susan is right – beaglets are simply good for the soul. OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA Steve of the Duck Tape Duo Trio and his mammals. OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA Okay, Heather is really, really, REALLY cute. And we ran across a LOT of cute this weekend, so you’re just going to have to deal with some of it. To the left over there you’ve got Heather finding a butterfly that insisted on licking her fingers and then we stopped in at Steve’s (of the Duct Tape Duo Trio) to see his beaglets. OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
A night. A night indeed. An amazing show at the Rocheport General Store in Rocheport, Missouri. An amazing crowd, so supportive – glowing. Friends and new friends and excellent food and a good time had. Rowan and Heather and I played hard and blew some minds and sold lots of CDs. We did really, really well and just exploded unto a 210 people town. People came from around the corner to see what the fuss was, went home, came back with friends. We literally have 25% of the town at our show. It was awesome.
Difficult things at home though. I got off stage and had lots of voice messages from family and family friends. It’s the outward arc, as far from home as I’ll be on this Trip. I miss my Dad. I’m watching Sex and the City to calm my head and I will not cry.
Ugh, so last night – despite a wonderful show, I was greeted by multiple phone messages – my mom broke her elbow and shortly afterwards her father had a stroke. I’m waiting for news on all developments. It’s a grey day in Easley, Missouri and no matter the news, the world is beautiful. I think it’s important to remember that.
Last night we played the Rocheport General Store and had an audience that is to be envied by all. Attentive and friendly and beautiful. Old wood floors and old wood shelving but brand-new bathroom fixtures, it’s pretty ideal in my world. Good beers (despite my face I made, I did like the AFTER-TASTE of the pumpkin ale that Rowan pushed upon me). Rocheport is run by dogs and giggling children, playing in the street. Cautious cars nose their way down the six or so paved streets in town and the everything culminates in this little main street where the general store, bank, post office and antique store all vie for space.
Today we’ve driven back down to Cooper’s Landing to pick up a DVD of our Sunday afternoon performance. I hear that though the sound is it’s usual supurb quality, most of the video is so backlit as to be pretty unusable. Shame. We’ll stick it up on youtube nonetheless, most likely.
On the drive we passed by Boathenge again and saw a bunch of huge birds: a pair of incredible… hawks? Vultures? I don’t know what they were – but they exploded out of the foliage with wingspans that seemed to cover the whole of the old dirt road we were on. Later I caught the rare sight of a blue heron in a tree – I don’t know that I’ve ever seen that before – still with it’s one-legged stance on an old greying dead man of a branch. Scraggle on scraggle, it sighted something and plummeted before Heather could spot it, vanishing into the water below. Huge crows – everything is appropriately black and white, grey and brown. The colour’s bleached from the world as autumn closes in on the river and though the news from home will probably be bad, there’s a melancholy to the world setting it all up so perfectly.
We’ll stop in Columbia for a little bit longer before heading out to Saint Peters, MO. I think we’re actually going to stay in a hotel tonight, mostly for the welcome rest that such a place provides. Free from all invaders, in our own space, beholden to no-one for a night. Rowan hopes they’ve got internet. I hope they get sci-fi. Bionic Woman’s on tonight and there’s nothing like Katee Sackhoff to make this man forget his woes.
Steve’s bird is very quiet, unless he manages to get on your shoulder – then he sings in your ear! Unless your Heather – in which case he grows distracted by necklaces and earrings and tries to swipe’m. Not pictured – not only more beagles, not only goldfish, I think they don’t have any rabbits any more but they DO have two cats… OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
