A Kinky Weekend

The two-night fundraiser this past weekend was a success. Everyone had fun, Kinky enjoyed his stay, he performed in high Kinster form, and the show and silent auction (horse-themed local art, of course), and auction of several of his 'Man in Black' tequila bottles brought in more money for Wing Spur than we have made in previous years, which is not only exciting but allows us to pay off the hay bills and order vaccinations as well as buy a new battery for the tractor. Woo-hoo!

Excy picked up Kinky from the airport Friday and they raced over to a local news station for an interview. The show that night was at one of the tonier theaters and he sang and told stories for 2 hours with breaks to meet folks and sign "anything but bad legislation." Even at half-occupancy it was a good crowd. Afterwards the guys went to a popular 'joint' made famous by President Clinton and the late Levon Helm to talk politics while I went home to 'put my buns in bed,' as his song goes. Saturday the thunderstorms came through again, so we didn't get to bring him out to visit the sanctuary and we were thankful we decided against having the second venue in Harrison, a town a few hours away. With the floods and torrential downpour I'm not sure we would have made it. Kinky fretted as it was that "maybe he'd be singing to 20 people," it was raining so hard, but White Water Tavern pulled in a good crowd, and everyone was more than willing to buy tequila shots and sing along with him.

Kinky was friendly and outgoing and gracious to everyone. He has the politician's genius of remembering names. People brought in old albums, books, hats, guitars made from his old cigar boxes, you name it -- he signed it, even the tequila bottles people bought. It was hard to think he was tired from his "Bi-Polar Tour," where he performed 36 shows in 35 days around Europe.

After Saturday's show I was a passenger in the car that drove him around, so ended up having dinner after the show. It was fun to learn about his life, his 60-dog sanctuary in Kerrville called 'utopia,' and his serious consideration of running for Governor of Texas, this time not as an independent but a Democrat. His close friend Willie Nelson pledges to assist with the campaign, and he's asked us to help, too. He's invited us to dinner when we are in Texas seeing our second grand daughter, who was born Saturday -- two weeks early! She was born in 19 minutes! Mom and baby are doing fine. All in all, a great time, and one we are glad to have pulled off, and that is over.