Thelma at the Bean Blossom Bluegrass Festival in Indiana, 2015

It is so hard to find a decent photo of Thelma from recent years - she always tried her best (worst) to avoid being filmed or photographed. This is the only picture of her from this place. The Bean Blossom Festival, (nowadays called the Bill Monroe Memorial Festival) is THE ultimate bluegrass music festival, the Mecca of the genre, established in 1966 by the "Father of Bluegrass", Bill Monroe. After having been to Nashville, TN in an earlier year, this was the topping on the bluegrass cake for me (and Thelma didn't mind either). A whole range of bluegrass stars performed. Funnily, close by, there is a small town called Nashville too (Nashville, Indiana not Tennessee). There are 12 cities or towns in the USA with the name of Nashville. We experienced some of the kind of diluvial storms you only see in TV reports in the UK. At the festival, we had some interesting food - e.g. alligator nuggets, and we got acquainted with a tasty fish called "walleye". We both enjoyed it. While listening to the music, we discussed the millions of fireflies that swarmed out at dusk, the amazingly infernal toilets, or whispered about the Amish girls in front of us, who were also enjoying the music (in this picture above, too, you can make out at least one of them behind Thelma - challenge: find both of them). Our flight home was delayed because of storms in the Chicago area. In the music galllery, the first song, is performed by Eddie & Martha Adcock, whom we met personally too at the Bean Blossom Bluegrass Festival, Indiana in 2015. Adcock is a legend of the genre. (This song - "I Am Weary, Let Me Rest" - reminds me of my lost dear Thelma.)