August 23rd: A lovely sunny day at the Agricultural Museum and Arboretum (sheep! goats! horses! pigs! cows in stalls!) including personal encounters with a miniature Sicilian donkey (cute!) and a turkey (not so cute!), and lots of squirrels imitating Scrat. Followed by the most entertaining open mic. ever. Highlights: a retired opera singer singing 'Summertime' while accompanying himself on guitar; several pretty good performance poets; lots of singers who can actually sing (not always a given); one who sang so quietly to himself that the MC turned up the mic and we were treated to bonus feedback; same singer followed up with 'Que Sera Sera', to which we joined i the chorus (as you do); at least 4 short stories; a young man channelling Nona Simone and Beyonce in a rather fine falsetto voice; bongos; a rhythm-challenged man with a tambourine. I wasn't quite sure what decade I was in. My poems were greeted with blank expressions and polite applause (just like when I read at Thirsty Dog, so at least I'm used to it), though they said they liked my accent. I was 17th of 25 performers , and only the second woman, of three.