Before summer draws to a close, the Art & Air Show starts in Albany. The first night we listened to Curtis Salgado do his usual fine work.
During the break in Curtis’s concert, the “Night Glow” lit a series of hot air balloons to our delight.
The next day we returned, staked out our location across from the main stage, and wandered around looking at the arts & craps booths, ate fair food, enjoyed the ambiance, and waited for
the main attraction—for us—Creedence Clearwater Revisited.
Stu Cook and Doug "Cosmo" Clifford (Rock and Roll Hall of Fame bass and drums from CCR) launched Creedence Clearwater Revisited in 1995 to perform CC Revival hits. Though they planned to play only private parties, the band now performs 100 shows a year and has released the album "Recollection."
For almost two hours, they played hit after hit from the CCR days, every one familiar. Clearly they were having fun; we certainly did.
September First we drove to Salem for Deb’s pre-op orientation, ate lovely Southern barbeque at Adam’s Rib and then went to the Oregon State Fair to take in the sights, sounds, and smells.
All the usual suspects were there, although signs warned of special precautions around the piggers: “do not touch, remain a safe distance, stay away if suffering from a cold or flu, wash hands before and after.”
Although we love the fair, the reason we picked this day was the main attraction, scheduled for the evening in the amphitheater: the Doobie Brothers. At 8 p.m., they started with old hits, interspersed a few new ones, and kept much of the audience on their feet much of the time.
At 9:15, they walked off the stage to shouts and applause, then a minute later, returned to play two more numbers, finished by throwing drumsticks and guitar picks into the audience. Deb snagged a plastic pick.
We threaded our way out through the carnival. Overhead, the almost-full moon was shadowed by Mars in its closest position to earth in at least 5,000 years, not to return so near for perhaps another 50,000.
