Promenade Circle Back Down

When I was a boy I used to go to the square dance Saturday night

I’d watch all the people from miles around swingin’ to the left and the right

And I’d watch that fiddler playing his tunes and the old men getting half tight

Circle to the left, circle to the right, promenade circle back down

The stars are out and the moon is right, promenade circle back down

There’s nothing better on a Saturday night than to promenade circle back down

I’d sneak up front and watch Ol’ Fiddlin’ Joe playing his square dance tunes

Try and see where his fingers go while the starlight danced with the moon

With a little toy fiddle and a stick for my bow I’d copy his every move.

Circle to the left, circle to the right, promenade circle back down

The stars are out and the moon is right, promenade circle back down

There’s nothing better on a Saturday night than to promenade circle back down

And now that I’m a grown up man and when Saturday night comes around

I play for the dance with my own string band, promenade circle back down

And a little boy watches from the edge of the stairs and the circle goes round and around

…

Sometimes I wonder at the circle of life.

I just started my new job at Dollywood. I am the magician and magic shop manager. 2.5 years ago, I almost leased the shop, but couldn’t work out the details, but now I find myself there, and it is a big circle…the biggest. As I walk through the park, I see my whole life has been a prep course for this experience. Allow me to back up a little bit. (“digress” is just not ‘me’)

My father is from southwest Virginia, out in coal country. The railroad ran through Bluefield, and as a child, we would go down to the railroad tracks and put pennies on the track. I remember hearing the bell ringing at the crossing and taking off down there to watch the train. The smell of the coal fired locomotive and the sound of the train cars is still vivid in my mind. My mother is one of my home town’s angels and caretakers. She is an exceptional cook, and each dish, although simple, has been perfected through the years. Her yeast rolls are legendary, as are her biscuits and cobblers. When my father was inducted into WWII, she stayed with his parents in southwest Virginia. She would go to church with my grandfather, and when an organist was needed, she stepped in. She plays be ear and never misses a note. I have 4 sisters and a brother. We are a tight knit family, although if the truth is known, we are a bunch of country bumpkins. We had one of the few farms in out town, ate fresh eggs, pork, chicken, and vegetables grown in our garden. My mother canned each year, and we all helped, and stringing green beans would be a family activity. As we get older, we begin to yearn for those long lost family times.

I was bitten by the ‘magic’ bug at 8 yrs old, and at 15 my father traded a goat for a guitar and he gave it to me. My parents gave me a magic kit for Christmas when I was nine. I was always the kid watching from the edge of the stage. Magic, and music, has since been my recluse. After a stressful day at work, I could always pick up my guitar, or some coins, and get my mind off of things.

I worked in the copier industry for 23 years. In 1995, I was offered a promotion, and a doubling of my salary, in Nashville. I was flown out there to interview, and while in the airport, I decided to buy a book to read on the flights. As I walked in the newsstand, a book instantly caught my eye. It was the life story of Dolly Parton. I had always admired Dolly for her talent, but more so, her dedication for helping promote and improve her hometown and its people. I was going to Nashville, and most likely going to live there, so it made sense. Reading the book was like reading about a family very similar to my own. When she mentioned ‘electric kites’, I was hooked – electric kites are flies with thread attached to their legs. Yeah, I did that when I was young. I am sure that I am despised by flies around the world for my evil deeds as a child. I agreed to take the job in Nashville on one condition: I would work for 2 years in Nashville, but wanted to be relocated to the mountains. Also, one of my drawbacks has always been that I have been too nice to our customers. My company always told me that I went too far in trying to satisfy the customer. After 2 years, I was relocated in east Tennessee, but my weakness of being ‘too nice’ to customers didn’t go away. At that time Opryland was TN’s most attended theme park, Dollywood was a distant second. A few years later when Dollywood drew more attendance than Opryland, the Gaylord family closed it down. Little Dollywood knocked one of the big boys off the hilltop.

Marisa and I spent our 10 yr anniversary in Pigeon Forge, TN. We went to Dollywood, and saw the magician. I told her that I belonged on that stage and that it would be a dream job for me. I even bought a ‘floating dollar’ from the shop.

As a high school football fan, I enjoyed taking the family out to watch Brentwood Academy play. Brentwood is the section of Nashville where the ‘well to do’ lived and they had a private school that dominated each year. The state championship games were all played in Nashville in what they called the Clinic Bowl. We saw Brentwood win the state title against a little team from east TN. I remember they wore uniforms that looked like the New England Patriots and had a small but LOUD and devoted following. The Brentwood crowd expected to win, and Biff and Muffy would kindly ‘golf clap’ when their team scored. Drinking bottled water and driving BMW’s, they could not have been more different than me. I felt bad for the small school that Brentwood beat, and I admired the way their little crowd that was packed on the other side drowned us out. I leaned over to my wife and whispered in her ear, “You know, these are not our people. Those people over there are more ‘our’ people.” We both got a good laugh about it.

Fast forward and I am living in east TN. We moved to a small town that reminded me of a cross between southwest VA and Tidewater. When I told a friend how I had looked for a town like this to raise my children, because it was so much like my hometown, she replied with, “Well, welcome home!” It stopped me in my tracks. She REALLY meant it. Marisa and I volunteered in the athletic association in our small town. My boys were in middle and elementary school, but one day, while passing the high school, I noticed the sign, “Jefferson County High School – Home of the Patriots”. Hmmm…could it be? The circle was forming.

So now here I am. I feel like I am right where I started. I have gone everywhere and nowhere.

Every day I walk into the park. I pass Aunt Granny’s kitchen and walk by the mill. The biscuit company is across the street where they have canned goods and an outdoor fire. I turn right and pass in front of the replica of the cabin that Dolly was raised in. It looks like my father’s house in Bluefield. I stop and reflect for a couple of seconds. That cabin reminds me of the sacrifices that my parents made in order to raise our family. It is humbling. I then go up the hill to the railroad track. There is a bell that rings when the train is crossing just like the old bell in Bluefield. I smell the coal burning and hear the bursts of steam of the train. I make my way to the magic shop that sits right by the train tracks and stop at the door. It is located in the Village. The County Fair is right down the hill. I prepare to entertain the people with my silly magic and even some music, and I see the circle completing itself. I feel as if my whole life has been a preparation for where I am now.

I live in a facsimile of my hometown.

The people who work at Dollywood are the same people that I saw on the opposing sideline years ago…they are MY people.

Both of my boys graduated from THAT high school. They both attended University of TN (Christian is still there), and Dolly was the commencement speaker at Charlie's graduation from there.

We are simple country folk who genuinely care about each other.

If I am walking through the park and spot someone looking at a map, these are my marching orders: Approach the visitor and ask where they are going. Tell them that you just happen to be going that way (that’s right, lie to them) and take them where they want to be. If you are ever late to a meeting, due to helping a visitor, no problem, no questions – company policy. Yep, they pay me to be 'too nice'.

Miss Lillian, Aunt Granny, and Miss Stella are known throughout town (Dollywood), and they are a combination that equals my mother. They are loved and admired, and famous for their ‘makings’.

I have two sons; one a musician/lawyer-to-be, and the other a magician.

When I almost leased the store, I had no idea I was a walking time bomb with lung cancer. But regardless, with the help of my family, I opened my own magic store in Gatlinburg. I used to tell everyone that it was almost my dream job. I always yearned for Dollywood, but I cut my teeth in Gatlinburg, and it was just preparation for a larger stage.

I put smiles on peoples faces every day.

And every day a little boy watches from the edge of the stage...I look down and see myself in his eyes...and the circle goes round and around.

Promenade circle back down, folks.

Until next time…

24 & 85 - my two finest ladies

I will love you completely with all that I am
I will love you without restraint
I will love you because of the love I can give
And not for the love I can take
All for the love I can give, and not for the love I can take
Mike Cross

24
On September 28th, Marisa and I celebrated our 24th anniversary. Marisa took a much needed week off of work and we headed to Key West. It ended up being one of the best trips that we have taken down there. I cannot express to you how much I enjoyed it. When I spend time with her, I am on cloud nine. She is my soulmate and best friend. We ate plenty of fresh seafood and visited some new places. We also visited some of the places that we never miss - Key West Aloe, Towels of Key West, Schooner Wharf, Mallory Square, Kino Sandals, Pepe's Cafe, Baby's Coffee, Boondocks, Geiger Key Marina as well as a few more.

We also did something that we had never done before - we rented a scooter for a day. Wow! What a blast. What a great way to get around the island.

We then moved up to Marathon for a few days. Marisa works for Bluegreen Corp. so she got us booked in a beautiful resort for next to nothing, but wow, what a great place to stay! We had a coupon for a free boat rental that we used one afternoon. We had a 26' with a cuddy cabin that we used to cruise the waters of the Atlantic. We spent our last night in Ft. Lauderdale at a small hotel on the beach surrounded by multi-million dollar resorts with billion dollar views. I hated to come back home!

Next year we will celebrate our 25th. We plan to take the kids to a small hotel in VA where we celebrated Marisa's parents 25th anniversary about 25 years ago!

85
On October 8th, my beautiful mother celebrated her 85th birthday and, believe me, she barely looks retirement age.

My mother is a role model for everyone. She raised 6 successful children with an even and loving hand. She provided 3 meals a day every day of my life. She is adored by everyone, and has long stayed in the background while my father accepted the attention, but without her, none of us would be where we are at today. She taught us all how to love, and she is truly one of God's children. She set an example for all of us, and I love her dearly. In the last year, my father has had some knee problems, so my mother has started helping him feed the animals. She even helped him milk his goat. He says she is the best helper that he has ever had. In many ways, my parents are still the young kids that fell in love over 60 years ago...much like the two middle age kids that just spent a week in the Florida Keys.

So, my two finest ladies, I thank you, I salute you, and I love you both.

First Post Treatment Scan

"Livin', at it's longest, is just a short trek to the grave.
So you might as well go ahead and enjoy what you can along the way.
'Cause if a doctor said you were going to die, wouldn't you do as you please?
Listen here brother, life is just another terminal disease"

Well, I had my first scan since having chemotherapy and the results are in...NED! Clean as a whistle! So now I have 3 months until they check me again. It is so weird. I have these little mini lives that I am given. In the beginning they will be every 3 months, moving to every 6 months and then to once a year. Once I reach 5 years I will be declared cured....wow...what a thought. Cured.

The summer season is winding down in Gatlinburg, and we are preparing for the fall. I had some visitors come into the shop today from my hometown of Fox Hill, VA. It was Tom Fowler and his grandchildren. They are nice kids who love magic, and it was so good to see them again. They visited me last year as well. I did miss seeing Marsha this year.

Charlie is settling in at law school, and Christian is getting settled in at University of TN. It is still hard to believe that they are both in college. I am so blessed to have such wonderful boys.

Well, back to practicing my magic. Until next time, may the good Lord take a liking to each and every one of you!

July means....blackberries!

So how do you spend a day off in July? For Marisa and me, it is picking blackberries. Fresh blackberries, not the electronic gadgets that seemingly allow you to do anything. I'm talking about the fresh berries that grow on vines. Growing up, blackberries were a staple in our diet. We had blackberry preserves and cobbler year round. My father had what seemed like miles of blackberry vines on the farm. People would come and pick the berries and half them with us. When the berries started ripening quickly, our whole family would go out and gather all of the berries. My mother would freeze them or cook them up for preserves. Mom called it "putting up berries". When I was young we used wax to seal the jars. Later, we used a pressure cooker. My job was was the lid checker. I loved every minute of it. I can still smell that fresh smell!

Life was just a tire swing
'Jambalaya' was the only song I could sing
Blackberry pickin', eatin' fried chicken
And I never knew a thing about pain
Life was just a tire swing

My mother's cobbler was the best around, and when Marisa and I got married, I tried to get the recipe from my mom. Getting a recipe from her is not always easy - oh she is glad to part with the information, but it is in her own language. She would tell me to use enough sugar to "cover the berries". Cover the berries? Completely covered or sprinkled? Mom said, "Well, you know, enough to cover the berries." So some of the information, I only know that way. My sister asked that I post the recipe for cobbler so I will do that. Just understand, some of it is in my mother's language. So here it is....

Dough

1 1/4 C All Purpose Flour
3/4 C Self Rising Flour
3/4 C Crisco
1/2 C Milk

Prepare dough and cool. Roll out just over half the dough for the bottom. Place into a baking dish and fill with berries. Add enough sugar to cover the berries. Cover with the remaining dough and poke holes in the top for bleeding. Bake at 350 until brown.

Secret Sauce
2 1/2 C Milk
1 Egg
1/2 C Sugar
1 Heaping Tablespoon Flour
Pinch Salt
1 Tb Butter
1/2 Ts Vanilla

Heat milk. Add salt, egg and flour. Take off stove. Add butter and vanilla.

Well, there you have it!

Stay tooned!!!

So, you are a magician?

When people find out that I am a magician, there are several questions that I am usually asked:

How did you do that?
Do you practice alot?
What is your real job?
Have you always wanted to be a magician?
When did you start?
Can you make my wife disappear?

First things first - you really don't want to know how I did that, do you? Isn't it better to keep the mystery and surmise that it could only be magic? Once you know the secret, the magic is gone. There are two ways to view a magic trick: as entertainment or a puzzle. If you look at someone solving a puzzle you will see a wrinkled face, usually with a frown. If you look at someone being entertained, they are relaxed and usually smiling! So sit back and let me worry about how it's done and you can see it as entertainment. Besides, if I told you I would have to kill you...

Do I practice alot? Not really. Most people haven't practiced anything for 30 minutes a day for a week. If you do, you will find that you can really learn a lot. Magicians practice and rehearse - there is a difference, and I rehearse as much as I practice.

What is my real job? I am a magician and I own a magic shop.

I have wanted to be able to do magic since I was very young. There was a man named Smitty that used to come to our house and he could play the guitar. He wore a fedora hat and could make a quarter appear from behind my ear. I wanted to just like him. Today, I play an OK guitar, favor fedoras when I wear a hat, and can pull a quarter from behind your ear, so I guess I got what I wanted.

793.8

That is the dewey decimal system number of magic books in the library. I learned this in the second grade. By that time I had seen Mark Wilson's Magic Circus on tv and I knew that I had to learn magic. The books on magic in the library at Francis Asbury Elementary found my hands two at a time. I learned all that I could from them. My parents gave me a magic kit for my 8th Christmas. It had the Cups & Balls and the Chinese Linking Rings inside. These are two tricks that I still perform today. From the back of a Boy's Life magazine I learned of the Johnson Smith Catalog. That is where I bought my first trick - the Chinese Egg Bag. I now have two sons that can perform magic. Christian works at Magic Beyond Belief Theater in Pigeon Forge selling magic and running the spotlight during the show. Charlie runs the magic shop for me on Tuesdays until he heads up to Arlington to start law school.

Magic has been good to me. I have met some of the greatest magicians of all time and made many friends in the magic community. I have performed for thousands of people throughout my travels. I am hoping that in each crowd there is a child that is inspired to learn magic.

Why magic? The number one fear in America is not dying. It is public speaking - the ability to stand up in front of a crowd and deliver a message. Magic helps us overcome this fear. When you walk onstage fully prepared and possessing knowledge that others don't have, you gain confidence. The more you perform - the better you get. Magic inspires creativity, critical thinking, problem solving, sound work ethics, dedication and theater, in addition to breeding confidence in public speaking. Give this gift to a child and it will be with them for a lifetime. What greater gift could you possibly give?

Now for the last question - Can you make my wife disappear? Gentlemen, let me give you some advice. Don't ever use that line. I have personally heard it 1000 times. It is extremely rude and insulting. If you make requests like that, she will probably be disappearing on her own real soon. I personally have two lines that I use when that situation comes up. If they appear to be a playful couple, I will look her up and down and say, "No problem! I get off at 8. You can leave her here with me!" Usually I just say, "Sure, but you wouldn't believe what she asked me to do to you." There is a much more clever way to ask that question. You missed your opportunity at the end of the first answer. Remember? If I told you how I did it, I would have to kill you?...ahem..."Can you tell my wife?"

So spread the magic. Buy a kid a magic trick, take them to a magic show, hire a magician for a party, or take them to the library - change someone's life.

Until next time...

Key West is Gentle on My Mind

"It's knowing that your door is always open and your path is free to walk.
That makes me tend to leave my sleeping bag rolled up and stashed behind your couch.
It's knowing I'm not shackled by forgotten words and bonds and ink stains that dried along some line.
That keeps you on the backroads by the rivers of my memory - it keeps you ever gentle on my mind."

John Hartford's beautiful lyrics on Gentle on my Mind are masterful. Every so often, an artist captures the mood of a melody with the proper lyrics, as John did on this one. Glen Campbell launched a career with this one song.

I find myself more and more thinking of Key West. I have always said that the only place I would leave east Tennessee for is Key West. No where else in Florida, just Key West. I considered Saint Augustine but more and more the lure is Key West. I absolutely love that place. It is in a world all it's own. If you have never been there, it is hard to explain the laid back, eclectic, and wistful attitude of the locals. Marisa and I first traveled there in 1989 when my oldest son Charlie was just two years old. We stayed with Marisa's parents on Big Pine Key, about 30 miles from Key West. I started to write "north of Key West" but the fact is, everything is north of Key West, being the United States southernmost city.

Our first day in Key West we rode the Conch Train that takes you around the island and shows you many of the interesting and historic sites. Marisa's mother, Chris, had won a free airplane ride over the island and Marisa, Charlie and I rode in a Cessna on a tour of the island. Our pilot was a young lady that was most informative and very friendly. Sadly, months after we met her, she was killed in a plane crash while attempting to attach and pull a large banner sign with her plane.

As we toured the island we both fell in love with the culture. Fish sandwiches are served in every restaurant and they are about $7.00. Each is a mouthwatering slab of fresh grouper that slept the night before in either the Atlantic or the Gulf of Mexico. We spent the afternoon walking up and down the streets admiring the architecture of the houses. According to city code, each house must have a unique design of "gingerbread" trim and fence, thus there are no two fences alike, nor are there any two houses the same. We toured Ernest Hemmingway's house and stopped at a few bars along the strip. We found out that we could take drinks from bar to bar, you just had to pour the drink into a cup from the bar where you were at. As the afternoon wound down we went to Mallory Square, a boardwalk out where the cruise ships dock on the west side of the island. Each afternoon local performers, artists and vendors gather on the boardwalk and in the square. Street performers of the highest calliber are the norm. The food is all local and all of the crafts and jelewry are hand made in Key West. If not, you cannot sell your wares. The action stops as the sun sets over the gulf, and the party proceeds until past dark at which time the crowd moves out onto Duval Street for the nightly "Duval Crawl". It is a ritual that is repeated daily.

When I saw this I knew that this was where I wanted to end up living one day. We have visited several times and each time we look at real estate that we could buy.

So as my children have grown, Marisa and I are thinking more and more about selling our property in Tennessee and heading down there. So if one day you hear that we have relocated to Florida, you will know where we will be...just over 90 miles from Cuba...in Paradise.

Want to see what is going on in Key West? Go to www.liveduvalstreet.com for a live webcam in front of Sloppy Joe's on Duval Street.

Changes in lattitude bring changes in attitude.

Until next time...

My Battle with Cancer

My Battle with Cancer

Some of you are aware that I am involved in a battle with lung cancer, and for those that don't, I want to address it.

In November of last year, I was given a chest x-ray that picked up a spot on my right upper lung. I was sent for a CAT scan but wasn't really worried due to the fact that I had pneumonia years ago, and was left with scarring on my upper left lung. Since I was using a new doctor, I assumed that the scarring was what they were seeing on the x-ray. I was working at my magic shop on a Fri and received a call from the Dr's office saying that the doctor was gone for the day but wanted to see me as soon as possible about my CAT scan. I set an appointment for the following Tuesday. I called Marisa to tell her, and we both knew that it didn't sound good. On Tuesday, the doctor told me that the CAT scan indicated two suspicious nodules and that he wanted me to see a pulmonologist at the University of TN Medical Center. Armed with a copy of my CAT scan and an appointment in 2 weeks, I began an internet search. I soon discovered that the odds were very good that I had lung cancer. I also found out that if it was cancer, the odds were very good that I was going to die. I had been an on and off smoker (more on than off) for about 25 years but quit immediately. Lung cancer affects 8% of the population and it is one of the deadliest cancers due to the fact that it is not diagnosed until it is too late. Even when detected early, lung cancer is hard to cure. Most aren't, but some are. I am determined to be one of those that is cured.

“Kill the demon – lay him to rest
Use all your muscle – put a knife in his chest
If he quivers – if he ain’t dead
Pull back the covers – cut off his head
Kill the demon!”

My pulmonologist was very reassuring and set me up for some tests. First would be a fine needle biopsy, followed by a PET scan, bone scan and brain MRI. The biopsy confirmed that one of the tumors was adenocarcinoma. This cancer is most common in non-smokers, Asians and women and is generally a slower growing cancer that attacks the lymph nodes, liver and brain. Luckily, the cancer was all in the region of the lung and surrounding lymph nodes, however it had grown through my chest wall. I was staged at 3A. My case was taken to the chest conference and all of the doctors got a chance to review my case, and make recommendations. It was decided that surgery would be my best option so I was scheduled for surgery on Dec 26, 2008. Chemotherapy was recommended to follow up the surgery in an effort to kill any microscopic cancer cells that were in my bloodstream.

Surgery went well and the doctor was able to remove all of the cancer. I also had two sections of my ribs removed from just under my shoulder blade. I went home 1 week later but had to be readmitted with a MRSA staph infection. After another couple of days I was released from the hospital and sent home.

I began chemotherapy on Feb 24th with 4 rounds scheduled over 12 weeks. The schedule was to have carboplatin/gemzar on the first day, gemzar on the 8th day, and a day off on the 15th day thus completing a cycle. Patrick Swayze has said that chemo is “hell on wheels” and he is right. The chemo was as bad as the surgery. I fought nausea, diarrhea, and extreme fatigue. I had several issues with my platelets, white and red blood cell counts and, as a matter of fact, I had to skip the second part of round 2 because they were so low. After the chemo, it will be months before I start feeling back to normal. My last treatment was scheduled for May 5th but due to my nausea and fatigue, the doctor decided that I had had enough. An appointment was set for 3 months ahead for a checkup and, most likely, a round of scans. If I am clean, then they will schedule me in 3 more months.

“I was walking down the road, man, just looking at my shoes
When God sent me an angel just to chase away my blues
I saw a hundred thousand blackbirds just flying through the sky
They seemed to form a teardrop from a black-haired angel’s eye
And that tear fell all around me and washed my tears away
Now everything is cool – everything’s OK.”

The preceding paragraphs were written over several weeks as I kept notes. As I write this now, I am feeling really good. My appetite is finally coming back and I am feeling better as a result.

I decided early on that I was not going to die from cancer…at worst I will live with it.

So let’s call it a day, folks…