I had a great three week trip to California over the Holidays. The main gig was at Muir Woods National Monument in Marin County. It was for the Winter Solstice, Dec. 21. I performed in the Gift Shop for about fifty folks, mostly kids and their families, Rangers, and friends. Played about twenty minutes, working up to the closing song: "Me And Stickeen," about John Muir's "Adventure With a Dog" (his story title) one scarey day (and night) in Alaska, in 1880. Helping me on the fiddle, and turning pages in the great picture book by Dawn Publications, was Ron Goode, Director of Restore Hetch-Hetchy, the group trying to restore the sister valley to Yosemite. After the little concert, we joined the Rangers outside in the parking lot for a Winter Solstice sing-along. From about 6pm till 7 the audience of about two hundred folks sang along, watched various skits and story telling, warmed themselves by the various parking lot "campfires" and sipped on hot cider. It was great fun! Perhaps my favorite part of this event is the wonderful candle-lit walk thru the giant redwoods after the singing. It's a long enough stroll to find some quiet spots, and listen to the water running in the Redwood creek (where salmon still spawn!), and gaze up throught the redwoods into the stars.

Back in Austin, and into 2004 I look forward to a year of on-going events, such as our Zilker Park concert and eco fair: "Mother Earth Day at the Springs" on May 7th, Austin Science Fun Day at UT Memorial Museum on March 6th, and many more. I'll be starting off the year with a new audience: Texas Organic Farmers and Growers Association, at their first conference, in Weslaco, TX (in the Rio Grande Valley), on January 28. I've actually performed for similar groups just lately: John Dromgoole's Natural Gardener, and Kimas Tejas (Bastrop, Tx) in the late Fall. I hope to keep up with these folks a lot more in '04: they're a great group.

Also ahead: possible projects with Central Texas's new group the Greater Edwards Aquifer Alliance, our own Chautauqua River School, and working with author/illustrator Lynne Cherry. There's an opening on a Grand Canyon river trip in July which I'm hoping to join!

Good news for this web site: I've been selected to benefit from an Austin area web design competition for artists and non-profits. My team of web pros will be working to give this site a whole 'nuther look by March 8th, so stay tuned!

Just in: a school group from Newfoundland is the latest to use the "Habitat" song for their local efforts. The Limestone Barrens Habitat Stewardship Program, in the Great Northern Peninsula, will be using the song as a language lesson, writing about the local limestone barrens, whose rare plants are now at risk. My father spent WWII with "Newfies" and his stories have always piqued my interest. This will be a great adventure for the "Habitat" song.

Let me know any other projects with these songs, and if I can help out!

I hope to see you in 2004, please keep in touch!

Happy Habitat, Bill