extra value here. a story about animals, politics, friends and music all wrapped up in one post! ( I just felt like babbling tonight I guess)

I got my very first job (other than mowing lawns) was when I was 15. It was at a local country club.  Actually, it was at the affiliated Hunt Club.  As in fox hunting, with horses & hounds and the like.  It was a stable for the old money ultra elite of our growing metropolis. And it was a great job.  I started out at $1.00/hr. (which was actually legal for under aged agri workers at the time) That was fine with me though. I loved being around horses - even had one of my own (still do).  The stable wasn't far from my house and one of the perks was that  I and my horse were allowed to use their 36 sq mi of gorgeous private trail system anytime we wanted - AWESOME perk!  But an even better one was the people I got to meet during the several years I worked there. If I wasn't in school or riding, I was at that stable mucking stalls, moving horses in and out of the pastures or cleaning club member's tack after a hunt or trail ride.  There were a lot of fun people my age or a little older that worked there and most of the club members enjoyed just hanging out at the barn too.  It was a very interesting pairing of the monied with the not nearly so monied and it worked surprisingly well.  Even as a lowly mucker I was always treated with a respect by the members and even became good friends with several of them.

One of my favorite co-workers there was a really fun girl by the name of  Janet.  She was a groom. Slightly older and a step higher than me in that she got to actually give riding lessons and prepare horses for hunts and take her students on trail rides.  I envied that.  But she was a hell of a lot of fun to be around also and she had great taste in music.  Janet was decidedly liberal politically, but we didn't argue about politics a lot way back then (that came later).  Hell, we weren't even old enough to vote. well she might have been...barely. 

The young couple who managed the stable (my bosses)  had a party one Friday night (they had 'em all the time) that included both members and the stable hands.  Judges, lawyers, doctors, grooms an muckers altogether.  These sorts of parties were the kind you always wanted to bring your sweetheart to because not only could you show off a bit, but he/she might get to meet some important people and being an invited guest to one was sort of a coveted thing. 

Janet had a new boyfriend whom she finally introduced at this particular party.  His name was Jim Hinde and my first impression was that he was a sort of a vagabond, hippyish kind of guy.  Not that that was necessarily a bad thing, but I wasn't sure how he might quite fit into that group.  It didn't take long to find out though. He slipped into that environment effortlessly.  He talked to everybody, top to bottom, with stimulating conversation and great interest.  He was sharp as a tack and was a hit with everybody right out of the gate. 

As Janet and Jim's relationship went on, Jim began to visit the barn pretty frequently.  One day I was over at Janet's  house (next to the barn) jammin to one of her albums on the stereo and Jim stopped in with a guitar in his hand.   He played a couple of old folk tunes for us and I was kinda blown away by his skill, and his passion for it.  He was quite good.  It wasn't long before Jim became the one man house band at the barn parties and he was great at it. Although he played all kinds of stuff, he was also writing and singing his own songs which tended to be acerbic liberal folk tunes that believe it or not, even I enjoyed. 

Anyway, time wore on and Jim and Janet got married and moved across town. started making babies.  Meanwhile  I graduated from high school and went off to college.  I still saw them occasionally, but not nearly as much.  After a few more years Jim took a job out in Seattle and I saw them even less. 

But Jim always pursued his music and eventually somehow acquired the best address on the planet for a sharp liberal minded genuine trubadour songwriter with a guitar and the ability to play it. On most any given day, you can find Jim Hinde selling his wares in front of the Starbucks at Pike Place Market in Seattle.

The reason I'm introducing Jim to you people is that I know most of you would like Jim as much as I do (not to mention his music), but I'm hoping also that if you're ever up around that particular Starbucks in Seattle, I hope you'll go up to him and say "Heya Jim! Marc said to say hello and to play me Sam the Alligator! " and toss a buck or two into his guitar case for me. 

Here's a link to one of my favorite Jim tunes called "Bohemian Rag" (wave format) and although he doesn't have a recording of it online,  here's a link to the lyrics at least for "Sam The Alligator" , so make him play it if you see ever him.

A couple more can be found at his website (as can Janet and the kids!) -> here

while you're there, order a CD. Your kids will love you for it.