What a Weekend

On June 22 I met Peggy in Urbana, IL for Jeremy and Bomina Otto’s wedding reception - the Main Event, but before that…

I had delivered a trailer in Chicago that morning. On the way up I-57 I passed Paxton and thought of when Zachory (grandson) lived there with his dad. Through Zach’s violin lessons I had learned of a man in Paxton who plays and teaches fiddle. I had spoken with Don Peterson several times by phone about helping Zach on violin. He seemed like an interesting and erudite person. I decided this would be a good day to meet him. I still have his phone number on my cell phone, so I called his answering machine. He runs the “Swedish Trading Co.” in downtown Paxton. I didn’t hear back from him until I was on my way back down I-57 from Chicago. So I stopped. An older couple were picking up a fiddle and mandolin which Don had repaired. Don played some Swedish fiddle tunes. I also took the chance to play on that fiddle, though no-one knew me at that point. After the couple left, I had a great time visiting with Don. He had just returned from Sweden, where he travels occasionally to play with a folk group. Don is a retired real estate agent from Chicago. His parents came from Sweden, so Don’s first language was Swedish at home. The shop is very neat and orderly. There is not much to buy, only a little - candles, pictures, moccasin type shoes - all from Sweden. Don said he doesn’t sell much. His main thing is teaching fiddle. He has 22 students. He has made a couple Swedish key fiddles and has another one partly done. Through the screen door dividing the showroom from the back of the shop, one can see a lot of woodworking power tools. This was a most inspiring stop. Don is a talented musician, though un-schooled. He’s industrious and creative. He has nice recording equipment in his shop and records his own music. Very impressive. When I was teaching in Urbana around 1993 I had met a young woman studying Norwegian and Swedish music for her musicology degree. Don knows Becky. I had forgotten her name, but he seems to know her well. On top of it all, I picked out a CD of Swedish fiddle music to buy, and Don gave it to me free! I have a new friend…

It was mid-afternoon when I left Paxton. I was to meet Peggy at the Round Barn Center, Champaign. Our life insurance guy’s office is right across the street from there. Peggy was coming up from the south in our car. We finally got to Craig Detemann’s office about 4:00. It took us a couple hours to do our business. We first met Craig before we left for Korea. He sold us our policies in 1994. He also bought Peggy’s 1976 MG Midget, which he still owns, though it’s in storage. We don’t know Craig too well, only through Allstate. But he is a cool guy, very smart and personable. He is in his upper 30’s - still single. He’s a super-jock - into all sports and always keeps in shape. He’s short and stocky. He’s generous, or maybe he’s just being a smart businessman… Anyway he gave us a nice book about the past 100 years of Illini Basketball. It’s apparently an ‘important’ book with autographs in it, but much of the significance of it is lost on us, not being sports fans. That’s alright. When we were getting ready to leave his office, Craig asked where we were staying that night. “In out truck,” I replied. He said, “No, I have a guest room…” So after the big reception, we went back to Craig’s bachelor pad - a very nice 2 BR house down the street from the Champaign Country Club on Haines. I’ll just finish with Craig and then get back to the reception. We got there about midnight. He has a 4 year old Sharpe (is that how it‘s spelled? It‘s a dog.) She has a wrinkly face - nice dog, but a little ugly. Craig gave us the master bedroom; he took the futon in the guest room. We had the greatest time. Craig is a fine host. He has some cool collections - hats, watches, wines, art… He travels quite a bit all over the world. This was amazing: Peggy almost immediately noticed a pottery vase on a stand at the end of the hall and said, “I made one just like that in high school.” She picked it up and looked on the bottom. It had her name on the bottom - P. Cavitt!!! Peggy could not get over that and kept repeating over and over - “You have my pottery! How did you get this?” and variations… Craig gave it to her. But Sunday on her way out of town she gave it back to him. It seems when we liquidated our household before moving to Korea in 1995, that vase was given away and ended up at a 2nd hand / antique shop which Craig frequents.

THE RECEPTION: We got there about 40 minutes late because it was hard to get away from Craig, and we drove to a wrong location (Silvercreek rather than Stone Creek,) but we got directions and found Kennedy’s at Stone Creek. Even after we arrived we found the wrong reception first and finally got to the right building. We were seated with Steve and newly-retired Jessica Shaw, whose son John was in my advanced violin group with Christopher. Now John is a computer geek in Chicago. Christopher and his girlfriend were playing violin and cello when we arrived. There were a couple hundred people there for a buffet dinner. The actual wedding had taken place two weeks ago in Korea. We had followed the family journey on John Otto’s blog. Nine Otto family members took the trip for Jeremy’s wedding in Seoul. Actually Jeremy and Bomina had 3 weddings: a civil ceremony a year ago to facilitate Bomina’s visa; a Catholic wedding on Friday evening, June 8, 2007 and the very next day a Korean traditional ceremony at a Buddhist temple. The reception on June 22 might be considered a fourth ceremony. The Ottos’ Menonite pastor spoke a blessing over them at the reception. John’s brother acted as M.C. He toasted the couple, John toasted his son, Christopher toasted his brother, Bomina’s dad gave a toast in Japanese, so that Jeremy’s aunt who is fluent in Japanese, could translate. And finally my wife Peggy stood up and gave a lengthy toast, which established our connection with the Otto’s through Christopher’s beginning violin lessons and told how it was by our influence that Jeremy got to Korea. I expected to hear more toasts or roasts, but noone else volunteered after Peggy. Hard act to follow I guess :-). After the meal it was time to dance. En route to the dance floor, we met a deaf man and his wife who are members of the Mennonite church. We had a very nice, long conversation with them. The man’s name is Mel I think. He does speak quite well, though he is totally deaf. He lost his hearing as a teen. He is an intelligent man, has a college degree, works as a cabinet maker and loves soccer. He and his wife first approached us because they had liked Peggy’s toast. That conversation just put off the dancing awhile, but finally Peggy pulled me out onto the dance floor. I was awkward at first but began to feel more comfortable after awhile. We had a very nice chat with Christopher and his girlfriend (Amy?) (I ought to carry a notebook or mini-disk recorder to record people’s names.) They are soon moving from San Diego to New York. Chris was my most gifted and successful violin student by far. It is so cool to keep in touch with him and his family. We also had good conversation with Jeremy. He is now preparing to be a massage therapist through John A. Logan Community College. God bless the happy couple!

Finally, I realized there was an opportunity here which I ought to pursue. I walked up behind Christopher as he and Amy were involved in a conversation circle - and waited to be noticed, which didn’t take long. I wanted to try out his Douglas Cox violin. Cox is one of the makers I’m interested in. In fact I first heard of him through Chris's dad. Chris has had this violin for 7 years. He and his parents went to Vermont to visit Cox’s shop. I will make that pilgrimage whenever it works out in the natural course of our trucking. So Chris was very happy to let me try out his violin. We had to get as far from the D.J. and loud speakers as possible, so we found a dining room behind closed doors, and I was able to test out the violin in all ranges and was able to hear Chris play a few passages of Mozart. So I was content. Thank you Christopher.

Then to top it all off, we departed Craig Dettemann’s house early on Saturday. Peggy was planning to take our grandkids camping in Indiana while I had plans to go to Springfield to play in a little concert organized by Jim Stieren at his house. He's a great guitar player. We play together whenever possible. Jim invited his coworkers (he’s an occupational therapist.) So there were home health folks and their spouses and kids in attendance. No young kids though. There were about a dozen people in Jim’s living room - a very appreciative audience. We played a variety of fiddle tunes (my specialty) and classic rock tunes (Jim’s passion.) This was a pot-luck, so as people arrived, more food was added to the food table. We had good feedback. And we got $22.00 in tips, which Jim and I split. After that event, I stopped over at Kregg Argenta’s house. He should’ve been at our recital but had a conflict with his niece’s birthday party. Finally I headed back to Urbana at the end of the afternoon. Our camping trip had been rained out. If it hadn’t been, the camping equipment was all in our big red truck, and Peggy had locked the key inside. I was to open the truck when I got back to Urbana. However, somewhere between parting with Peggy on Saturday morning and returning to the truck that evening, my keys disappeared. I only discovered them missing when I was parked next to our truck and could not find my karabiner. It’s a mystery. I looked everywhere. Finally I gave up and drove over to David & Alicia’s house to hang out with their 5 kids while their parents were out all night at a concert in Peoria. Treighton (4) and I slept in the RV in the driveway. We took the kids to early church, and Sunday afternoon, after all options were exhausted, we had a locksmith come out to open the truck for just $69.00. Then I went to Wal-Mart to make copies, of which one is now concealed under masking tape in a secret location on the outside of the truck. We have had emergency keys hidden under the hood in the past, but the one that was there is gone - maybe fell off? Finally I was able to depart to deliver a Publix trailer from Great Dane, Brazil, IN to Miami, FL and Peggy went home in our car. That was one extraordinary weekend!

The Hitch-Hikers

I don’t usually pick up hitch-hikers, but last Wednesday (June 27) at the Flying J south of Vero Beach, FL, I was drawn first to the 2 guitars: “Can you play those things?” They had a sign saying they wanted a ride “north-ish” or to Tampa. “I’m going to Tampa…” - an immediate look of joy and relief. I took a quick shower. When I came out, Rama and Ashleigh came with me to Tampa. They are nice girls in their 20’s, planning to go to Africa to start a ‘sustainable orphanage’ but via Atlanta or maybe Canada, where Rama is from, to arrange her passport. Ashleigh already has hers. They say they want to stay in South Africa or Kenya indefinitely. Once they are there on a tourist visa, they want to get sponsorship to stay. Ashleigh has already been to Africa and has contacts. These two are good musicians. They sing beautifully together in harmony - original stuff and also ‘bluegrass’ - their own concept of it. They sang for me in the truck, but it was a little hard to hear over the engine noise. The girls both have shaved heads. Ashleigh wore camouflage. She is sweet, tall and slender. She grew up in a Pentecostal church in Tampa but seems to have had a bad experience with it. It was good at first but grew huge and became too restrictive, full of rules. She and her mom left. Ashleigh said she had prayed today to meet a trucker that would change her image of truckers. I was the answer to her prayer. Rama’s name is actually Barbara Marie, so Rama is from the end of her first name and the beginning of her middle name. She is very fat. Her mom practices Mormonism, and her dad does not. She has a sister in high school who is a very good cellist back home in Vancouver, B.C. A & R are into spiritualism and said they ‘respect’ Jesus. (Later, I was able to give a strong testimony of who Jesus is.) In Tampa their friend Natalia came to meet us and brought Rama’s dog. By the time we got to Tampa, I had mentioned I was going to Atlanta next, which was good for them because there is a Canadian embassy there.

If Peggy had been on the truck with me this week, none of this could’ve happened. But I believe it was a divine appointment. First, on Wed. morning I was delayed a couple hours with truck problems. The transmission would not shift beyond 5th gear. I called our mobile mechanic Mike, who is based around Orlando. We’ve used him a few times. He is very good. He said he’d come out to me in a couple hours, so I wanted to get the truck off the side of the road. I nursed it 9 miles to the next exit at 17 mph. By then I had tried everything according to Mike’s suggestion. I had crawled under the truck twice in search of disconnected wires. As soon as I arrived at the exit ramp and was about to park, the problem evaporated. The truck shifted to 6th and all the way to 10th! So I kept on rolling to Miami and so far have had no recurrence of the problem. I called Mike to say I was rolling and would try to meet him on the way back up… This delay had put me in the right time frame to help the girls. Such evil events are in the news every day, that I am concerned about these two traveling this way all over the USA. Please pray for them - for their safety and that they will soon come to know Jesus personally.

At the truck stop in Tampa, after I had picked up my trailer, we ate and then ‘jammed’ in the restaurant. Natalia is the best guitar player of the three. She is a journeyman carpenter and a recent college grad - English major. She is Peurto Rican American, totally bilingual. We jammed only a short time. Then we headed for Atlanta, now with the dog. She’s a sweet, quiet dog and looks like a small wolf. Rama is looking for a good home for her. I had to say no thanks. The girls are planning to go to Arkansas for a Rainbow Gathering, which is going on now and lasts for many weeks. On the 400 mile trip to Atlanta, they slept like logs on the lower bunk air mattress. They had not slept in a couple days. These young women remind me of my step-kids, rejecting organized religion for a more free, love-oriented, pot-accessible, commune-style, some-form-of-spiritual, feminist life style. Please help me pray for Ashleigh, Rama and our kids and grandkids. I believe this is the reason God put them in my path. They need our prayers and miracles.

Big Truck Night

On June 16 there was a big event behind the University Mall in Carbondale. I had been invited by Kathy Staff to bring our truck. The event was sponsored by a Children’s Services program. Sorry, I never caught exactly what the organization is, but it is community based, publicly funded I assume, offered to several surrounding counties. There were about 30+ volunteer workers, all wearing orange T-shirts. Mike & Kathy Staff were both there. Some were manning the food tent, some directing traffic, etc. Peggy and I washed our truck on Saturday, right up till time to leave. Peggy stayed home but came to meet me later with the car. I arrived about 4:15. The event was from 5:00-7:00. It was really great. Cathie Paull came at my invitation, to play music by my truck. I positioned the truck so as to be able to sit on the shady side of it. I had also let Ron & Karen Demmin know that Cathie and I would be playing, since they like to come out to hear us whenever we play. They came with Amma, Ramma and Ramma’s little boy. I was pretty busy signing kids’ cards. As they went around to all the different types of trucks, the drivers were to mark their truck on the card. There was a constant flow of kids and parents. They climbed into my nice clean truck, honked the horn and listened to our music when we had a chance to play. Mine was the biggest truck there. The kids loved climbing inside the trailer and running to the front. I had a brand new Great Dane trailer that day, bound for Ryder in Laredo, TX. There were maybe 10 trucks on the parking lot. One had a boom that stood about 4 stories high. There were dump trucks, one for digging trees up by the roots, one with enormous tires… The kids filled their cards and then had a drawing to win toys and prizes. It was the first Big Truck Night and was successful, so I believe there will be more. I saw two families I knew: Ed and Kira Benyas, conductor of the Southern IL Symphony, and their two girls; and I saw a family I knew from Goreville. And I had a long conversation with a young Indian physician who was there with his wife, small children and Grandma. He was very personable and had many questions about the truck. I enjoyed him very much. After the event, I had to wait for Peggy to arrive. Most of the trucks were driven away. The volunteers packed everything away. Finally, it was quiet and I was alone in this big parking lot - just me and my truck. I sat in the lawn chair and played my fiddle until Peggy arrived about dusk. We went inside the mall to eat, went to a movie (Pirates of the Caribbean,) and then we slept in the truck. I didn’t want to move the truck back to Goreville, so we stayed in Carbondale until church the next morning. Right after church I was on my way to Laredo, and Peggy went home.

From the Strad to Claude

We are now under a load from Salt Lake City to Dallas. Only problem is it was impossible to get it into Dallas before closing time on Friday, so we are having to sit on it over the weekend. The result is that we have had a very leisurely trip from SLC to Dallas, which is where we now are on Sunday night. Really it worked out quite well. Peggy and I are together for 2 weeks and wish to run very hard as a team, so at first we were disappointed about the timing of this load slowing us down. However, it’s not so bad. Here’s what we did…

Even before leaving Salt Lake, I took the opportunity to visit a violin shop which I had heard about 30 years ago. The Violin Making School of America was founded in 1972. Sometime in the mid- to late- ‘70s, in Milwaukee I played string quartets with a cellist, who had studied violin-making briefly at the VMSA. The school is closed for the summer, but I still wanted to visit the ‘Peter Prier & Sons Violin Shop.’ Peter Prier is the founder of the VMSA, but has since turned over all oversight of it to others, so that he can concentrate on violin making. We parked our truck & trailer on the edge of downtown SLC, next to Pioneer Park. Peggy thought she should stay with the truck. I walked a mile through downtown to find the shop. It consists of 3 buildings: the school on the corner, the violin shop next to the school, and a recital hall next to the shop. Everything is neat and orderly, as one would expect of its Austrian proprietor. Of the many violin shops I’ve visited, this is perhaps the top most impressive. I had called ahead a couple times to make sure they were open. When I arrived, I met the son - Martin (I think.) Shame on me, I spent a lot of time with him but didn’t pay attention to his name. He was quite busy juggling a steady flow of customers, which he did with humor and grace. I like him. He’s quite knowledgeable about the violin market and about violins. At 13 he began making violins with his father. He went through the VMSA, and he went through the violin making school in Chicago, AND he worked for six years in the Carl Becker Shop in Chicago. (Carl Becker is about the biggest name in modern American violin makers.) As Martin was setting me up in a room to try violins, he let me know to take my time and try anything in the shop. I tried about 10-12 violins, including a Becker. Another young guy came in after me who was also shopping for a violin, so Martin was trying to take care of both of us in adjoining rooms. The young guy sounded incredible. He played major concertos flawlessly, making me feel a little intimidated, but still I was inspired and went on with my own process uninhibited. I’m not really ready to buy, but the shopping is very fun, and I learn something new with every shop I visit. Martin was a great resource and caused me to think more about getting a new bow as well… He’s smart. He said, “Let me show you my favorite bow in the shop…” It was an 1820 Picat - $70,000. Wow, it really does make a difference. That bow was fun to play with! So I used it the rest of the time I was there. Then a little later Martin said, “Do you want to try the ‘Firebird’ Strad?” “Uhhh, yeah!” He took it out of the vault and told me to have fun with it. I played it for a long time. I did the entire Kreisler “Praeludium & Allegro.” Wow, what a violin. I was in heaven. But of course I’ll never be able to afford a million plus bucks… It was fun though. Before I left, Peter Prier came in and started helping out with the young stud concert violinist, thus freeing up Martin to take care of me and others. Martin took me next door to the recital hall to see his and his father’s workshop. Martin has nearly finished a violin, which is already bought. I want to try violins made by Peter and Martin, but they cannot keep ahead of the demand. As soon as a violin is finished it’s already bought. Peter has 8 orders to fill. So how can I ever get hold of one to try? I’m hoping to get to SLC during the window of time after the violin is completed before it goes out of the shop, if he will let me know the timing.

I walked back to the truck and we were on our way to Texas. We drove through the night on Friday. Saturday we stopped for fuel and an oil change in Amarillo, went 22 miles further towards Dallas, and stopped for the night in Claude, TX, a town of 1300. We took a room in the motel, checking in about 1:00 p.m. After we got settled, we took a walk to explore the town. We didn’t get too far before we found a leather shop across from the town square, which had an “open” sign in the window. Tom Christian came to the door and let us in. He is upwards of 70, a native of Claude, rancher with 7,000 acres, former state representative, former travel agent, all around interesting guy who likes to tell lots of stories. We were there a long time. Peggy bought a few antiques from him. I ran back to the motel to get my violin to play for him. Before we left we asked him about churches in Claude. He said, “Why don’t you come to mine?” (Methodist.) So we agreed. We went back to the motel, went grocery shopping, slept a lot, and watched a movie in the middle of the night - “Richie Rich.” In the morning, we packed up the truck and headed for church, just 5 blocks away. Before leaving the motel there was a little alarm about my violin. Peggy had left it next to the ice machine while I took the last few items over to the truck. When I got back to her near the motel office, I asked where my violin was. She sent me to look in the room again, and then she found where she had left it. AHHH! But through this, an elderly woman asked Peggy about the violin, as I was approaching. So I took it out and played a few tunes for the woman and her family - there were about 10 people there. They loved it and wouldn’t let me stop for awhile. We did get to church on time, met many good people, and I was asked to play in the service. I played “Amazing Grace” and Peggy & I did “Touch of the Master’s Hand.” I also played a couple hymns with their excellent pianist. We very much enjoyed this service. The preacher is a woman - a gifted speaker/communicator and a very caring, loving, sincere lady.

Tom Christian and his wife took us to lunch afterwards, and their son, daughter-in-law and grandson were also there. This is the 14th day of a fast which our church is promoting. Peggy and I are participating, but we decided to make an exception for this occasion. We shared a chicken steak dinner with green beans, tater tots and a side salad, the first substantial food I’ve had in 14 days, except for yogurt, apple and vitamins most nights. Don’t worry, I have plenty of fat reserves to sustain me, and they are being used! The town of Claude has a general look of dishevelment. Most places one looks, there is trash or broken cars or ruts or disrepair, so the town does not look too appealing. Tom’s shop is most disorganized, and the floor is very dirty. But we met sweet people. It was surprising that these prosperous, good people don’t take care of their property better. We contrasted this to the typical German village, where all the shopkeepers and property owners are always cleaning, cleaning, cleaning. I should talk. But for Peggy, there go I.

Now we’ve driven the last 300 miles to Dallas, where we’ll deliver this trailer first thing in the morning and will begin our next trip from Lufkin, TX to be in Haines City, FL on Tuesday.