After a few summery, warm days on the coast, the fog came in with a vengeance - just in time for our first gig on the "Mendonoma" coast in a long time. We played in a small place on Point Arena's main street (215 Main) while the famous, grey Point Arena weather obscured the view outside. We set up in the corner and waited for the adventure to begin. Sure enough, in flocked plenty of familiar folks from our days of playing at the Gualala hotel. People were so gracious and excited about seeing us again - it felt like a homecoming...the legendary "Return of the Thugz." We played familiar tunes - with lots of Grateful Dead selections - just perfect. Mike really impresses me every time with his ability to "read" the crowd and make fantastic song choices. The whole Thugz ensemble was there - Mike, Ian, Chris and Leslie, Drew, Craig and Jo and I. Even our friend Richard came from Black Mountain with fresh eggs and some medicinal local honey for an ailing friend. Several people said hello to me in a way that reminded me of a high school reunion. They were vaguely familiar and really seemed to care about me, but I had to kick start some brain cells to make connections. I'm just glad the north coast crowd has such fond memories of our Gualala Hotel gigs. At the end of the night, the bar owners asked us to return - it was a lovely compliment. I must say the town clears out pretty fast around 11 pm. I stepped out to my car to load equipment, and Main Street was deserted. Ah yes, that's the way of things in small coastal villages - party hearty then head home to the hearth. I had to turn the windshield wipers on as I drove home to a really drippy scene. Our final "Ripple" was echoing in my head - what a great night. Take care. Love, Sylvia