It Was Magical!

Chet O'Keefe's In-Dining-Hall Concert was more than fantastic—it was magical!

Right after I posted yesterday's story I sprayed myself down with Off and then Tony and I jumped inside Trigger and drove over to the Dining Hall, because I needed to drop off my iPod and Bose, so Chet could have his awesome music playing during the intermission. 

Then Tony drove me down to the gate, so I could collect the money for Chet's concert. Then he and Trigger went back to the Dining Hall, so he could direct traffic down to the parking ring. 

I was only standing, at the gate, for five minutes when my dear friend, Eileen, arrived to help me with collecting the money. Then one by one the cars and trucks started rolling in for the concert. Everyone was smiling and seemed to be very happy, because they were so excited about Chet's concert. And  their great vibes were contagious. It was like all around me there was electricity in the air and thank goodness it wasn't lighting. 

When just about all the cars had arrived, our good friend, Suzanne, walked up to help us. She became fascinated with our donkeys, Roy, Gabby and Little Jewford. While she was petting them she handed Eileen her phone and asked her to please take a picture of her with The Boys. After Eileen had snapped a few pictures, Suzanne told us that she wanted to take a picture of Eileen, the talented concert poster artist and me. 

After we had posed for Suzanne, we decided to head towards the Dining Hall, because we were pretty sure that everyone had arrived for Chet O'Keefe's concert. When we got there Chet came over to me and told me that he was ready to start his concert. So we all went inside the Dining Hall to go sit down.

Then Kinky walks over to me, puts his hand on my shoulder and suggests that I go up and be the one to introduce our dear friend Chet. That was fine with me, because I don't get nervous standing in front of people and talking. But because I was feeling all that high level of good energy, bouncing off the walls, I could barely speak and I did a lousy job. And I also teared up too, because I knew that Chet was fixin' to blow-everybody-out-of-their-saddles with his incredible music. Just like he had done, Friday evening, to Carol, Tony and me, when he did a sound check.

Before the end of his first song, Chet had a captive audience. They were so quiet you could have heard a pin drop, because he had instantly mesmerized all of us with his first song. Then after each song he sang, his audience clapped louder and louder. It was magical!

As I sat in my chair, near the back, enjoying Chet's concert, I was feeling so happy for him, because his huge die-hard fan base that he already has, was expanding, right before his eyes. Then before he began to sing his second to last song, he told the crowd that he had written a song about me, called Ode To Cousin Nancy and it was such a surprise to me—I instantly teared up and nearly fell out of my chair, as people turned around to smile at me.

Oh my gosh, his song was so sweet and beautiful I had to fight back the tears, because Chet's song had truly touched my heart. And when the song ended the applause was deafening loud and that's really something since I am so hard of hearing.

Chet's last song for the night was The Talking Kerrville Blues and everyone loved it and him, too. As soon as Chet switched off his mic, Carol ran up to tell me that yesterday she found out about Chet's song for me, the day before, when we were cleaning up The Dining Hall. She said that when I went home to check on Mama and came back he was just fixing to play it for her and Tony. Then she told me that months ago, Tony had asked Chet to write a song for me and she loved the song, too. So, I teared up again, because that was such a nice thing for Tony to do for me. "Thank you, Tony and Chet. I love y'all."

Then Chet's newest friends and die-hard fans kept coming up to me to tell me how much they had enjoyed Chet's Dining Hall Concert. A lot of people stayed after the concert so they could meet Chet, compliment him on his music and buy his merchandise. 

While all of that was going on, I had a fun visit with our dear friend Gerry Olert, the best videographer in Texas, who had come to video Chet's Dining Hall Concert. Gerry is our rescue ranch's official videographer and he has been for many years. He told me that he had video-ed Chet's entire Dining Hall concert, because that was what Chet had requested he do and that he was really looking forward to working with Chet on some new videos. And Gerry is going to send me a copy of the video where Chet sings the Ode To Cousin Nancy and I can't wait!

This afternoon, when Chet came over for a visit and I once again, thanked him for writing Ode To Cousin Nancy and told him how much it meant to me, he said, "Have you got a guitar capo?"

"Yes. Why"

"Because I want to play it for you." Seconds later, after handing Chet my guitar and capo, I teared up again, as we listened to Chet sing Ode To Cousin Nancy. And that is about it for tonight.

9:56 Update!   My dear friend, Gerry Olert, has just sent me the YouTube link of Chet singing Ode To Cousin Nancy at Chet O'Keefe's Dining Hall Concert. I hope that you will check it out. I love the song and have posted it on the side bar under Tony & Nancy's Favorite Links.

Y'all have a great evening!