OUR MAN in EUROPE/dave delacroix/Part 9: A Snake in June...

Part 9:   A Snake in June...


From out of no-where, a great Summer storm blows in - from the Rockies, probably - forcing me to cancel an outdoor gig of music and bonfires/pagan exhibitionism in the Tannus forests; actually, quite near ROMAN Saalburg. (ref: euro-blog/part2: Saalburg, when it Sizzles!)

See? We Barbarians are still in evidence!

With nothing else planned and a let up in the rain, the Count (Herr Graf Alex von Ludwigshafen) and I decide to attend the Usingen "bottle-grill-nacht", a commercialized County Fair; beer stalls, Wurst (hot dog) stands, trinket sales and what-not, and a stage that features a really bad Bayeriche (Bavarian) electronic-music trio, who, on their final - interminally long - last set, depart from the German and crow out: "Usingen, Say YEAH! Usingen, Say YEAH!" -a portion of the fair-goers responding.

Both the Count and I are physically sick; the Count, unpopularly so - representing the local nobility - conscripted into serving the Hot Dogs!
...Moving along.

Later, we run into an old Black Pearl bar habituee, name of "Reilly", and join him in Apfelwein and end of County Fair reflections, sitting on bales of straw, strewn around the fairground site for just this purpose.

He (Reilly) is an old Soul, an ex world traveller, now retired; Usingen, his place of birth.
He had - on my arrival - remembered me from a 2003 visit and we had always gotten along famously, our life stories, a shared book.

In his brackish (yes, brackish) English, he said: "Dave? What do you 'make' here? This is the farmer's land; their farms, their families, their crops, their cattle... I too love your music, but...here, I think is not for you; here, only the farmers win; only the farmers can...won?"

Needless to say, Reilly imparts this with all good reverence, toasting the Count and myself with the rich, local Apfelwein.

The following day finds the Summer storm still lumbering across the sky, making travel plans uninviting and the "Schloss", damp and cold.

There's an old Wood stove in my chambers so I give myself a refresher course in how to make a good fire; pop on some www.myspace.com/davedelacroix tunes on my laptop and "liberate" some Sec and a bottle of Gonfalone Chianti from the wine cellar.

Reilly is right, of course. But... to quote Jack Nicholson's JAKE GITES' "Chinatown" character: "When you're right, you're right. YOU"RE RIGHT! -and You're Right!.... Now, quit messing with the Venetian Blinds! -I just had 'em installed!"


c 2010. dave delacroix/our man in europe