Feb. 20/03
Thursday, 2 p.m.

I’m forced to take a break from working, though I’ve put in only an hour and a half today and no time before this week. But Barney is demanding my attention, as he has been begging my help to make cotton candy for days and I can’t put him off anymore. Now he’s humming happily along with the machine, which is warming up.

I feel a bit burnt out, though was in bed by midnight I’m sure. In the middle of the night I realized I was awake and calculating money, and had to tell myself to get to sleep. We didn’t have a very big turnout for the concert last night, considering all the people I called and told about it. Still, we had fun and the Travelling Minstrel went away with $160 in his pocket and a bed to sleep in last night, so it was not a failure by any means.

Don was thrilled to have Dennis here, and then he sat on the couch right in front of him in L’s aunt’s living room and smiled and smiled. Every once in a while after a song, Don would say “That was a great song, Dennis. Thank you very much” and finally, near the end, he requested a specific song. Then he began to sing along. I didn’t know Don knew the words, but he surprised us all. What can I say, it was sweet to see Don so excited and happy.

When Dennis went to leave this morning, Don said “I’m going to miss you. Can I phone you sometime?” and Dennis said, “Well, I have no phone. I don’t have a home, either. I travel all the time.”

I said “How come you don’t get a roofrack and strap a teepee and poles on top of it? You can set it up wherever you are. That’s mobile and pretty comfy, from what I understand.”

Dennis, proud Métis raised in 17 foster homes, chuckled goodnaturedly. He probably thought I wasn’t serious, but I was. Making a teepee is something I’ve wanted to do myself, for many years.

He’s gone, this 58-year-old man who lives on the road in his Grand Marquis and says he will be back in the fall on his way through next time, and might stop a little longer to spend a day or two taking pictures in the area.