"Carolina in the Morning"

This is the first song so far that I haven't known fairly well. Again, bouncy. Except for yesterday's song (gack, and verily, gack) all of these tunes date from the 1920s, which I'm now assuming was just filled with bouncy tunes. The notes on this song say that neither the composer nor lyricist had ever been in the Carolinas. I don't remember ever being to either North or South myself, so I can't offer my own thoughts on how well they faked the song.

My thoughts are certainly often South these days, though. I was in New Orleans when I was ten, visiting my aunt, who lived there at the time. I don't remember a whole lot, but it was very green, and we did walk down Bourbon Street, and there's a great picture of me putting the toe of my purple low-top Chuck Taylors in the Mississippi. It's been tops on my places to visit for a while, that list being mostly places where I have friends living, just to make the possibility of visiting a little more in reality-land.

My friend Kathleen lives in New Orleans, and I know that she's ok, but not much more than that, so far. She was in Austin when she sent out emails last. She's resourceful, with lots of friends, so I know that she'll prevail in the long run. When I think about Kathleen I think of that amazing smile of hers, totally infectious, and dancing with her, wildly. . .

A long time ago in a not-so-far away place I once had a magical autumn, and every autumn since then I remember it. I did so much art, and dancing, had a lot of regular sex with an amazing man who was a great friend to me, and hung out with these absolutely incredible people who helped to shape my vision of what being 'grown-up' meant. I mean, at the time, they were in their *thirties*, at *least*, and that didn't seem exactly old, but still! And they were so intelligent, and creative, and it brought those qualities out in me. It was also the time in my life when I discovered the real depth of relationships with other women friends. Ah, the dancing we did together! All out, no holds barred, all together, follow the music, sing the song, tell me a story, make a picture, many limbs, clear voiced, I trust you, dance.

It ended badly, for me. But the ending was just a small tail on the end, not the body of it; and more, it was a long time ago now. I've kept in touch with most of the people from that time to some degree. I can't go back. But every fall, I do remember it. I remember the joy.