Jumpin' Jive Island Slick Slam Dance Contest

      Many times there were dances at the Orcas Island old Community Center that caught the essence of the mood of winter.  People gathered there to sing the blues and do the jump down turnaround with some of the rocking musicians that lived and breathed on the Islands in the Fog,  It was cool to dance the Lindy Hop with those go girls and party misses of the time. All hush hush so nobody could object to the jazziest happening in the San Juan Islands.  

       I just got off work at the restaurant washing the dishes listening to Nat King Cole so I was ready to hit the floor and strut my onion.  It was one of those happenings that takes you by surprise. The non planning that went into these events was uncanny.  What we were doing was creating strong people who could weather any winter.  I'm sure someone was not happy but not on these nights. Everyone there had permanent smiles in place with moves to match.  The wild life on Orcas took centre stage and adapted to the moonlight.
   One year, I bought a Martin knock off which made me happy for about two days. I unboxed it and tuned it to my liking. Orcas is extremely humid in the summertime. The bridge started lifting and the neck started delaminating. I paid good money for a bad instrument. This never should have been. It left me feeling bad and abused again. My next move had to free me from this misery.
     I was not one to pass up a chance to flee. I fled the island a few times trying to get something going in the music business. It is not the innocent thing anymore. Rock and roll is home to the many criminals who rule the night. They learned their music in the prisons. 

        There is no escape. The island life called me back. I finally flew off to Hawaii once again. You'd think I would have learned that travelling in the same pathways I would come to the same roadblock.  I tried to emulate George H. since he was successful in music. I was looking like him but there was one difference. I had no money to speak of. 

      I took a job with a court resurfacing outfit just to hold my place in this world of pain.  At 10 dollars an hour at least I was making more than minimum.  Someone clued me into the scam. The contractor had scheduled $20 an hour for hired help with the City of Honolulu.  He was skimming me.  I found out the hard way.  I was supporting these crooks by participating in this scam.  On the last job he was trying to rush me.  I had a bucket full of epoxy at my feet.  Don't piss me off.  I kicked over the bucket leaving him to scramble to spread the quickly drying epoxy.  Of course it was a dirty trick but I felt better and glad to move on. The assholes are everywhere.
      I did feel special though, when we corrected the Eagle's Glenn Fry tennis court in a big push.  In spite of everything, I was shorted and never tackled suing him for back wages. Just getting free of this guy was what I needed.  You need to watch carefully.  The cheats are everywhere.