Clarksdale, MS - Birthplace of North American Blues Music

As I dipped my fingers in the "Big Muddy" (as the Mississippi River is called here) catfish and turtles swimmin' I realized that I am in the Delta!  I think I'm in shock and awe to realize this dream.  There is no reading or writing or singing that can replace actually being here.  Just think...I ate fried green tomatoes ('ta wanda') and a catfish sandwich, baked in the heat and hung out at the local 'gas station' stoop with the people of Clarksdale all in one day.  

I don't know what the people of Clarksdale thought of me all decked out in my new clothes driving a relatively new Toyota and buying a 6 pack of Corona.  It is too soon to talk intelligently of Clarksdale but I will say that this is truly a 'community' of people.  Sitting, waving, talking, arguing people who know each other by the first name.  Amidst the activity there is time for each other.  The closeness is what it sometimes feels like for me at the Blue Chair Acoustic Cafe in Edmonton.  

Some things I've never seen:

1.  4 bags of groceries costing $18.90.

2.  No 'brand' names in the supermarket.

3.  Security at the supermarket.

4.  $.50 at the car wash lasting 10+ minutes.

5.  A wall of plexiglass enclosing the server and all the hard liquor at the local liquor store.

Above you'll see I've posted photos I took today of an abandon cotton gin.  It is difficult to know how old this gin would be but there were signs that updates to the building were had.  I walked out into the rows of harvested cotton, grabbed a handful of dirt and literally baked in the 10 minutes of standing doing the photos.  It was impossible to ignore what picking cotton from morning to night in this heat on this dry and sandy ground would've been like.  I felt a deep sorrow for what has been.

I'll be taking the next couple days off to write, relax and rejuvenate so that I can remain open to this process.  There is no fire here, I'll learn what I learn and translate it into music.  Much is brewing...

Corona Kat