Oh man!!!! What a great great great night.
This story cannot be told without recalling my first days in Victor, Idaho. I had been in this little town in Idaho before, working for the local NOLS branch. But, visiting is different from living. Real living in Victor started in late July 2004. My good friend had moved over the pass, I was living with a woodworker (and Hungarian goat farmer) who was rarely around. I had the good fortune of living right in "town." Victor is a very small town; there was one flashing yellow light, two bars, a gas station and, at that time, very few stores besides the Victor Valley Grocery store. If I walked about 3 minutes, I could go from my front door to the Knotty Pine Bar & Grill. And that is exactly what I did every other night. I worked the late shift at a hotel (2pm to 10pm). By that time, all my friends and family on the east coast were in bed or out on the town. I did not know many people. So, I would get home around 11 o'clock every night and head over to the Knotty Pine. It was a local bar where everybody knew everybody. I quickly made friends with the bar tenders (a bar tender is a lonely soul's salvation). I would strike up conversations with the folks sitting around me, and slowly started making friends. The best part about the Knotty Pine was the live music acts that alway came through. Great bands (soul, funk, bluegrass, folk) came through on a weekly basis. Sometimes lots of folks were there, but often times aside from the bar tender, waitresses, and cooks, I was the only one, or one of few people, there. And it was great. Good, friendly people just hanging out, drinking too much, and having a great time. Those folks I met at the Knotty Pine are still some of my best friends today. I would drive all day and all night if they asked.
Well, last night reminded me of the good old days back in Victor when I was younger, more naive and better looking. I walked in, ordered a beer and roamed around. I walked to the back of a bar where there was a tattooed fellow sporting a white tank top and black and gold blazer. "I like your boots." I thought I heard him say. I looked around but thought I imagined it. "I like your boots," he said again, "Where did you get them? What size are those?" "Oh you are not going to buy those boots off her feet." The woman standing next to the blazer-ed fellow added. "Thanks I just got them. But, I really like her boots." The woman was wearing these awesome cowboy boots with dark brown leather stitched on lighter tan leather with purple accents on the dark leather. Well we started talking. They are originally from Montana, but moved to Austin some years ago. I told them I was about a week and a half Austin old. They said, "Well do you need friends?" "Yes!" I exclaimed. We all had a good laugh and headed into the main area to watch Dale Watson tear it up.
Well, you don't just make a friend. You gotta have stuff in common, you have to share some stuff. Well my blazer-ed friend, right after the first song started asked, "Do you know how to two step?" Does the pope shit in the woods? Those readers who know me know that two stepping is one of my all time favorite activities! "Yes!" "Well I don't." He replied. "That's okay, I will teach you and still make it look like you are leading." We had a great night, and by the end of it he was actually doing a damn good job with it too. Well that kicked off a whole lot of two stepping. Great dancers at the Continental Club. So much fun.
My bedazzled boot friend was no slouch either. She was a great dancer in her own right and we had a great time out on the dancer floor. But, even better, we knew every word to the covers Dale Watson sang (Jackson, Luckenbach, Tx, You Don't Have to Call Me Darlin') and we sang loud. Even Dale Watson and the Lone Stars noticed. "How nice to make a friend that likes all the songs you like. And can sing too!" Dale Watson said at the end of the night.
I have met some of my best friends at bars. I hope these new friends will be friends down the road. My bedazzled boot friend said, "This is great, I always remember we met singing and dancing at the Dale Watson show!"
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