Day 6--May 3, 2013

            Today’s weather was not the best.  It rained all morning and was in the lower 50’s.  I played catch up in the bus.  Sure it’s fun to think you are on an extended vacation, but when you travel in a motor home, you bring all your household chores with you.  No matter what, clothes need washed, groceries need bought, meals need cooked, and toilets need clean.  Yada Yada Yada.   But it’s worth it.

Richard had a few outside chores to do.  So maybe my inside duties weren’t so bad.  We went to a local seafood place—Soap Creek seafood which used to be on Soap Creek, but now is located in Lincolnton.  I had crab legs.

In 2008, while we were in Alaska, Lyle West asked us to bring a BIG piece of Brazilian Rosewood to Little Roy’s house.  We did.  Lyle then came to Lincolnton and took the wood to a man who lives in Mouth of Wilson, Virginia (I swear I did not make that up).

 That man is Wayne Henderson, who specializes in the crafting of handmade, custom acoustic guitars and he’s a friend of Lyle’s.  The wood we had carried across the nation and then he transported it to Virginia would be used to make several guitars.  In 1995, at a White House ceremony, Wayne Henderson was awarded a National Heritage Fellowship in recognition of his extraordinary instrument-making. Also, the book Clapton's Guitar: Watching Wayne Henderson Build the Perfect Instrument (2005) outlined the process by which Henderson built a guitar for Eric Clapton.  Richard read that book while we were on vacation last summer.  He thought it was very interesting.  In 2008, Wayne was the subject of an Appalshop documentary, From Wood to Singing Guitar.

I tell you all this so you realize how special it is to have a guitar made by Wayne.  He had made one for Lyle out of the wood we brought back from Alaska.  On stage tonight, Rhonda Vincent and Lizzy (on behalf of Lyle) presented that guitar to Little Roy.  It was a very special moment.

Now let me tell you one other short story about the guitar.  For years, Lyle has presented people with various forms of shellac and gold dipped moose droppings.  Yes, you read that right.  I believe Rhonda Vincent has 2 pairs of earrings—shellac for day and gold dipped for night time.  Anyway, Lyle had glued these precious nuggets on to the turning keys.  They handed the guitar to Little Roy before the told him where it came from.  He knew instantly if was from Lyle. 

Without missing a lick, Little Roy announced he would be playing that “Shitar” all over the country.  They audience went crazy.  So much fun.

Tomorrow I’ll post some pictures of the guitar.

Until the next time,

Dolores