And so away we went…but only for a few blocks, so Manfred could take me to a local restaurant to join a Friday-night stammtisch. This is a weekly meeting of a group of friends at a pub or restaurant or gasthaus, always held at the same time, on the same night, at the same table. (Indeed, some tables have permanent signs hanging over them indicating as much.) It is a time to talk, and drink beer, and talk some more. Once an important part of culture and, I think, politics, they grew less prominent over the years, but have recently seen a resurgence. (I believe the fact that they are now co-ed, instead of the all-male affairs of the past, might have something to do with their return to popularity.)

That first night I had the very Upper-Austrian dish of gröstl, a true comfort food with many variations, but always involving potatoes and often sporting a spiegelei (mirror egg) on top. When I told the others at the table that Americans refer to this particular style of egg-frying as "sunny-side-up" they were delighted with the name. The naming of food was just one of many topics we covered that night.

Reinie had a spacious apartment in his building where I stayed while in Molln, allowing me to come and go whenever I wanted. It was a good thing; the day after I arrived, to my surprise, I awoke to Reinie and Manfred popping in to see how I was doing. It was not their first attempt. It was 4 o’clock. Yes, p.m. Ah, jetlag.

But no matter, I would be in Molln for five days. Plenty of twanging time. For Molln is known to Jew’s harp players everywhere as a centuries-long center of maultrommel production, and even today there are three makers still going strong.

One is Schwarz, the largest in terms of units produced. I didn’t get to know any of the Schwarz family on either of my visits. But another large-scale producer of maultrommels is Wimmer, and since I do know Roland I stopped by to pay him and his family a visit.

He showed me his collection of harps, and the equipment they use to produce their own. They mass-produce several sizes of one model and make a smaller number of tuned instruments. Roland also showed me a prototype of a version they are planning to produce using a "church-key" style bottle opener. Yes, it still functions as a bottle opener as well. I think we all need one of those! Roland presented me with a Wimmer harp and also a bamboo kubing, then we retired to their living room to watch video from the 1998 congress. All in all, a fine way to spend an afternoon.

The third maker in Molln is Jofens-Hörzing. I met maker Joseph Jofens during the 1998 congress, and was happy to renew our acquaintance during this trip. He does not mass-produce maultrommels, but makes each one by hand. While all of the factory-produced Molln harps are playable, Herr Jofens’ handcrafted ones are works of art. I spent several pleasurable hours trying them out, and bought several, including a mid-tone D and a high D. At the time I asked if he had a bass D, but he did not. That would be a difficult one to make, he said.

A trip to Molln would not be complete, for me, without a visit to the Steiner-Krudl gasthaus, where the Americans stayed in 1998, so Manfred arranged with the proprietress Heidi to have a knudl night. Knudl is a dish consisting of various types of ground meat and spices wrapped in dough. Heidi is famous for her version, and her fame is well-deserved; they were delicious. (My favorite: hashenknudl, a mixed meat and onion filling, kind of like…well, hash.) They were served with warm sauerkraut seasoned with caraway seeds and to-die-for potato salad. And yes, I could talk about food all day long.

But back to Jew’s harping. At one point in the evening, Joseph came over to the table and handed me a maultrommel. He had made it earlier in the day; it was of course a bass D. I was mightily impressed by the effort, and the gesture, not to mention the instrument itself. It sounds lovely, and is now one of my favorites.

Once Robert Russmann (he and Manfred are brothers) came inside after a spirited game of curling, we had a mini-concert. I had my recording equipment with me but did not get around to setting it up. Just as well; I believe that the best music is often that which does not get recorded, and it was true that evening. One combination, with Manfred on clarinet, Robert on tuba, and myself on a bamboo kubing, was especially fun—kind of bluesy, kind of funky, kind of indescribable.

The next day Heinz, another congress friend, gave me a tour of some of the surrounding area, including stops at a couple of farmhouses where we sampled the local most (hard apple cider) and a little homemade schnapps.

(We also had a schnapps tasting at Heinz house earlier that week; Helga’s homemade orange-flavored schnapps was the highlight. Their daughter Angie was there too—at the congress she was a teenager and served as our informal interpreter and cultural guide; this trip she introduced me to her fiancé. Has it really been that long since I had been there?)

Heinz also, at my request, took me to the nearby hamlet of Georgiberg, where there is a little church with (they say, and I believe it) the best acoustics in Upper Austria. Micheldorf Georgiberg is built atop a stone alter, visible through a hole in the floor behind the pulpit; someone has worshipped something on that spot for millennia. It is an amazing spot, if hard to get to that day—the snow was deep, and the road to the top of the hill was impassable, so we had to hike in. I recorded lots of music in that incredible soundspace, trying different instruments, playing along to the blizzard raging outside. When I was done we went down and called from a farmhouse for a tractor, to pull Heinz’s car from the drift where it had gotten stuck. Yep, it was an experience.

Another notable experience were the presentations I did a couple days later for Folksschule Molln, the local grade school. Manfred’s mother-in-law Traudi was, until recently, the principal of the school, and it was she who set it up.

The children (ages 6-10) came in two groups, each about 60-70 strong They were excited, but attentively polite once I began. I demonstrated instruments from Hawaii, the Philippines, China, and Siberia, as well as the more familiar ones (to them) from Germany, Hungary, Austria, and the United States. They had many questions: How did you learn to play like that? (Practice); How many do you own? (Around 135); What is Seattle like? (It’s on the water, and we get no snow).

We first met Des at the 2nd Sumpter Valley Jew's Harp Festival. She was in the USA visiting her friend Ingrid Berkhout, both excellent female Jew's harpists. They were intrigued by our festival advertisements and made a special trip from Seattle to attend. We always teased Des about being the only "casualty" in our festival history ... she fell at one of the local restaurants and broke her arm!

Des was very active in the Humanist movement and her diligent work over the years helped women all over the world achieve independence and security. She often traveled to undeveloped countries to assist needy women with hands-on expertise. She was a very caring person and her love of humanity shone in her every movement.

She titled her CD "peace, joy and love" and she certainly shared those things wherever she went. I feel so privileged to have had the honor of knowing and loving her ... she will certainly be missed.