Hello, outside world!
Betty and I decided to spend an extra night in Mammoth, as I am still exhausted from 2 days ago. Also, there was a little glitch in our restocking plans, and we (by whom I mean Betty) have lots of foodstuff to take care of. I’m rehearsing with Tom for Bill Monroe Birthday Celebration (coming up Sept 11 at the Freight and Salvage in Berkeley). Everything makes me cry. Admittedly, the songs are pretty darn sad. Here are the lyrics:
WILL THE CIRCLE BE UNBROKEN?
(recorded by the Monroe Brothers in 1936, written in 1907 by Ada R. Habershon with music by Charles H. Gabriel)
Not to be confused with the Carter Family favorite of the same name!
Vs 1
There are loved ones in the glory
Whose dear forms you often miss
When you close your earthly story
will you join them in their bliss?
CHORUS
Will the circle be unbroken
bye and bye, bye and bye
Is a better home awaiting
in the sky, in the sky?
Vs 2
You can picture happy gatherings
‘round the fireside long ago
and you think of tearful partings
when they left you here below
Vs 3
One by one, their seats were emptied
one by one, they went away
Now your circle has been broken–
Will it be complete one day?
I HEAR A SWEET VOICE CALLING
(written by Bill Monroe, recorded in 1947)
Our little girl took sick one evening
while walking home from school
And then her deathbed soon claimed her
It made us so sad and so blue
She called me close to her bedside
and whispered these words soft and low
“Tell Mommy to come to me quickly–
I want to kiss you both and go”
CHORUS:
I hear a sweet voice calling
way up in Heaven on high
God has made room for your daughter
Oh, Mommy and Daddy, don’t cry
“Take care of my little brother,
and tell him I’ve gone to rest
I know his little heart is broken–
He’s al that you have left”
Then she closed her eyes forever
Never to see us no more
Until we meet in Heaven
On that bright and peaceful shore
CHORUS
I hear a sweet voice calling
way up in Heaven on high
God has made room for your daughter
Oh, Mommy and Daddy, don’t cry
Now, see why I was crying? No photos today. Mammoth is your standard ski resort mountain town. A jumble of restaurants, outdoor shops, gas stations and condos, nestled close in under the mountains. It’s a good place to do some much-needed shopping. For instance, I had forgotten to bring gloves, and only brought my glove liners with the fingers cut off. So off I go to the mountaineering/hiking store.
Dwight made a fantastic veggie meal for us, as Tom and I practiced. So fun to work together…in between the crying jags… I was thinking lots about my friend Laurey Masterton, who died at age 59 this last February. Also thinking of Charles Sawtelle, Kelly Winton and all my friends who have died young, before their time. My heart was broken. Broken open, I hope.
High Sierra Rambles 
Those two songs were wonderful highlights at the Bill Monroe Birthday Celebration. It’s a very satisfying sort of sadness to be reminded of loved ones we’ve lost, I feel. Thanks for posting the lyrics! Wayfaring Stranger was a major highlight that night, too.
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Everyone can imagine how wonderful it was for me to have Laurie and Tom’s rehearsal as the soundtrack for our R&R time in Mammoth. So beautiful! The resupply glitch was hilarious (and not to name names, it involves a certain person whose name begins with “Dwight” showing up without the box with a huge sign taped to it saying “bring this box to Mammoth”) – but if you have to re-create your resupply, Mammoth is the best place on the whole trail to do so, thanks to its excellent, if small, natural foods store.
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I fully appreciate a day out of the trekking, or 2, and how that can bring a rush of emotion about what you did . . . the past sneaks in and Mz. Lewis, what a list of those we lost too young. *bows*
Again, both of you thank you so much for this trip. I’m relivin many of mine, thru the same parts of the Sierra. Wow, just wow. I believe to do just Tuolumne, to Red’s Meadow, and south to just north of Whitney, would take me 2 months or more, at my age. If I made it thru the first day or so. lol SO admire what you two have done. Betty Wheeler, bless you for all your work with the dobro listings, conferences, and more. Larue here, from Howard Parker’s email resogit list.
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