Last week I ran into an old school chum, Jeff, who left the area after college like I did and returned to Virginia to live. We are now neighbors again -- have been for years -- and didn't know it until a week ago yesterday. Funny thing -- we got acquainted in school through music, as are both guitar players, and music reacquainted us after about 33 years. We both showed up to perform at an open mic in Chestertown, Md., where I lived before moving back to Virginia, about 100 miles from our current neighborhood. It was like something from the Twilight Zone, seeing each other again. We're trying to get together closer to home over the weekend. Stay tuned. The Beltway today was closed by a lumber truck accident that left wooden sections of fence in the highway at the intersection of I-270 and I-495. One person was killed and several were injured. Accidents like this are becoming more common. It might have been at this same intersection where a gasoline tanker caught fire and exploded not so long ago, causing major traffic disruptions -- and killing the driver, if I recall correctly. As I was getting on the GW Parkway in the late morning hours, traffic was backing up from the Legion Bridge. Rare is the day when there's not some tie-up on my 30-mile commute. My goal is to start blogging here on a regular basis. Let's see how it goes. I opened this account in order to view someone else's Myspace blog and decided it was pointless to keep it unless I used it. So here goes. Rather than tell you all about me all at once in some kind of Vulcan mind-meld (if you remember that, you might be a geek or just a fan of Star Trek, as I have been over the years), I'll just fill you in as we go along. Suffice it now to say that I am approaching 50 with trepidation. My old-time trio is expanding into a quartet and possibly morphing into a bluegrass/folk band along the lines of the Dillards, Manassas, Flying Burrito Bros., and other bands that have passed into the anonymity of time. Why should we be any different? Let's at least have fun while we can, I say. My folk-rock duo -- yes, I am a glutton for punishment in two bands -- has changed into a country-rock trio. Nothing stays the same. And I am contemplating future solo musical endeavors, as usual. None of this is getting any of us anywhere, in terms of attention, gigs, money or any other aspect of performance, except the satisfaction we get from sounding good in practice. For example, the old-time trip was booked for a benefit on St. patrick's Day that was cancelled last week. So much for practicing for that. We do have a job planned April 17 in Brunswick, Md., but we've been warned that few people attend this place. Such is the life of regional folk musicians. 'Til next time.