July 10th, 2003 - Day 2 of Moondance Jam 12 - What I need to tell you about this day, that this was the day that I actually started to write this book. For the past 3 months as you have read, the signs of 2 had come to me and so I thought, left. I thought the signs of 2 were a one time deal. But when I was at the Moondance Jam, they came back. Now mind you, I was aware that things were still happening after the first signs of 2 came, like the birds for example. I knew I was very new to believing in God and I guess I was worried about what God would think of me and how I acted and behaved. But the signs of 2 came back and this is what really inspired me to write this book and to tell even more people about them. Let me now take you through 4 days of the Moondance Jam in Walker, MN when the signs of 2 came back for the 2nd time.

The signs came in a big way and in a shocking way at times that were truly miraculous and spectacular. I had told my whole story to my Dad and my Uncle so they knew of the 2's and of the birds. And when I was at the Jam, I told all of our friends there my story too and how I came to accept Jesus as my savior. Not a one of them said anything negative to me. I think they were mostly curious. As they knew me from the previous Jams I had attended, their eyes would now be upon me in a different way. I expected some thoughts of, "Oh boy, now we are going to get preached to about how bad we are with swearing and partying." But that thought was never noticed by me or it was just not spoken out loud to me. I never did preach anything like that, but I did emphasize the fact that they should not go overboard with the partying, so that they could remember what all happened and so that they would be able to make it through to the late night campfires for guitar music, good conversation and who knows what else! LOL! (Laughing out loud) There is always something that happens worth talking about the next morning.

As we camped and visited with friends at the Jam, I started to point things out to my Dad and my Uncle of coincidences with 2's. Then my Dad started seeing what I was talking about. He even started noticing them. So on the 2nd day of the Jam, when they started happening again, my Dad said, "You should write this stuff down and keep a journal." And then it hit me, or better yet, the Spirit of God told me, but I knew right then that I had to start writing this stuff down. I told my Dad that he was the 2nd person to tell me that. The first person to tell me to keep a journal was a Christian brother named Dan who works on computers near where I live. I told him my testimony while I attended his church in Duluth, MN a month ago. My Dad said that he just so happened to have an unused daily journal in his van that I could use. He found it for me and I began writing the things that happened at the Jam over the next 3 days and the previous day. So what you will be reading next is what was actually written first and I am now re-writing it here in the correct timeline of events as they occurred as best I can. It is actually September 24th today but this was written 2 � months ago.) Here we go, 4 days of Moondance Jam XII.

My Journal started like this:
On the 2nd day of the Moondance Jam, my Dad gave me this journal. It was July 10th, 2003. Let me describe the current scene. There are 6 of us right now sitting under the canopy at our campsite keeping dry from the rain and next to us is a slow oak burning fire that is burning in the portable fire ring. We are thankful and are having a few peaceful conversations. There are 2 separate conversations going on right now while I am writing this. This is not a coincidence. For about the last 3 months since the 2nd Sunday after Easter, I have been receiving and tuned into signs of 2 that I believe are coming directly from God. (I wrote the above first paragraph in my journal and handed it to my Uncle to read.) Everyone around me knew that I was starting to write this book and they were curious. My Uncle read the paragraph to himself and then told me, "Did you know that today was also a 2?" I questioned him as to why he knew this and he took one of my business cards and wrote on the back of it. While writing he said, "Today is July 10th. That is the 7th month and this is the 10th day in this month. Added together that equals 17. Now add 3 for the year 03 and that totals 20. In the number 20 you add 2 + 0 and you reduce today's date down to a 2." How interesting I thought. I will write that down. So I took the journal back from him and wrote down exactly what he said about today's date being a 2. Because this is what this book is all about. �Other dates in this year of 2003 that reduce down to a 2 would be Jan. 16th, Feb. 15th, Mar. 14th, April 13th, May 12th, June 11th, Aug 9th, Sept. 8th, Oct. 7th, Nov. 6th and Dec. 5th.� In the year 2004, next year, just subtract 1 day in each month from these. The odds of me starting to write a book called 2 on a day that reduced to 2 in this fashion, was only 12 out of 365 days.)

The 2's have been coming to me today like crazy. It is getting more and more frequent. My Dad and Uncle are 2 of the 6 people sitting here along with 3 other friends Amy, Melissa and Holly's sister. I say "Holly's sister" because I don't remember her name right now. I was introduced to her earlier. I did remember that her husband was cutting wood today and she also said that she was Holly's younger sister, but I do not remember her name. I guess it will take me 2 introductions to remember it. I will make a point of asking Holly again as to what her sister's name is.

My Dad just told his 2nd story about sitting around a campfire with some Native American friends of his in the past. One story he told earlier today was about how Native Americans like to make small fires and the White man likes to make big fires. He liked to sit and notice images in the fire he said. The 2nd story he told was how they used to burn big logs in the fire and how they just kept pushing the log into the fire just when it needed it, but never over doing it as to make it last longer.

Today is the 2nd day of the Jam and it is raining for the 2nd day in a row. It is the 2nd Jam that my Uncle has attended. It is also the 2nd Jam that our friend Melissa's Mom has attended. Melissa's Mom's name is Judy. Amy is camping with them. Amy married Melissa's dad and would be considered Melissa's Step Mom. So Melissa is here with 2 former wives of her Dad.

My Uncle and I went to walk the vendors section of the Jam to see what items they had for sale. I mentioned to him earlier that I needed some sunglasses because I accidentally left mine at home. I also forgot a towel. 2 things I forgot. We stopped and looked at some sunglasses and they had a special going; 2 for 15 dollars. My uncle treated and paid for them. Praise God.

We continued on walking and looking at all of the vendor's stands and at another stand I saw a belt buckle that had a buffalo on it. My Dad's nickname is Buffalo Jack so I thought that it would be a really nice gift for him. I asked the guy working there how much it was, he opened the glass case and flipped over the buckle and showed me and my uncle the price of it. It said $22.00. I thought, "Wow, if this wasn't meant to be his!" I gave the guy my credit card but they said that they could not run credit card purchases right now. I told him I would come back later and for him to save it for me. As my uncle and I finished looking at all of the vendors stands we headed back to the campsite. I realized as we were walking back that I had set my pop down and I wanted to go back and get it. I thought I had left it at the sunglasses place so I told him to go on without me. I walked all the way around back to the stand with sunglasses and it was not there. I followed my steps exactly as we had walked before and I arrived again at the place where I saw the belt buckle. It was there. I grabbed it and walked towards the campsite. I again stopped at the Coleman Camping stand on my way back and grabbed 2 free bags of samples that they were handing out. They had some good stuff in the bags. When my uncle and I had stopped there earlier, I grabbed one. But when my Uncle went through the line, they had just run out. So when I stopped there again after retrieving my pop, I grabbed 2 more. One was for my Uncle who earlier missed out on getting one and the other was for my Dad. I went back to the campsite carrying my bags and my pop. Shortly after I returned, Amy and Melissa stopped by; they had 2 bags from the Coleman Camping stand also.

I showed my new sunglasses to Brent and he liked them. He asked where I got them and I told him where, but then I showed him the other pair that my Uncle had bought me. He really liked them and wanted to buy them from me to give to his girlfriend Brianna. Brianna was a Native American with long pretty black hair. When I showed the other pair to her she really liked them and when she put them on, they seemed to match her well and the black mirror like sunglasses accented her black silky hair. Brent handed me 8 dollars. But I told him that these sunglasses were a gift to me from my Uncle George. My Uncle goes by the name of George but his first name is Alfred. He likes to go by his middle or 2nd name so that is what we call him. I talked to my Uncle about it and he was ok with selling Brent the glasses and so I was happy about that. The glasses sold for 10 dollars each or 2 for 15 dollars. So if Brent would have gone to buy just one pair, he would have had to pay 10 dollars. Brent had saved 2 dollars by purchasing the extra pair that I had gotten from my Uncle. I gave the 8 dollars to my Uncle, which was more than half of the money he had originally spent. It all worked out great.

One of the neat things that people do while camping at the Jam is set up unique homemade games at their campsites. There are 2 such games next to our campsite in neighboring campsites; 1 on each side of us. To our left is a game they call Polish Horseshoes. It is a very fun game which I have played with the neighbors using 3 heavy metal washers. The object is to get the washers into 3 holes cut into a wooden box platform. The closest hole is worth 1 point, the next is 2 points and the 3rd hole is worth 3 points. You have to toss the washers and get them into the holes. The box is carpeted so the washers slide when they hit the carpet.

The game to the right of us does not have a name. At least the people that made it do not know what it is called or who actually invented it for sure. But the game is really fun also. There are 2 sets of plastic pvc pipes that are formed together into a shape of a 3 run ladder. The first rung is about 1.5 feet off of the ground, the 2nd rung is 3 feet and the 3rd is 4.5 feet. Scoring is 1 point for the bottom rung bar, 2points for the 2nd middle bar and the 3rd bar is worth 3 points. Each player gets 3 tosses. The things you toss are homemade. You take 2 golf balls, and drill a hole through them. Then you attach a 1.5 foot rope so that the 2 golf balls are connected by the rope. When you throw them, you hold one golf ball and let the other dangle. You swing it slowly back and forth and get a nice rhythm going and then underhandedly toss and release the golf balls toward your rungs that are about 30 feet away. If they hit one of the rungs correctly, the golf balls on the rope wrap around the rung and stay on one of the bars. Sometimes they wrap on and then unwrap and flip down to another rung like a slinky going down the stairs. If you get 2 on the same rung you get a bonus point, if you get 3 on the same rung you get 2 bonus points and if you get 1 on each rung you get 3 points.

Tom just stopped by, who is Holly's husband. He was wearing a bright colored Moondance Jam shirt from Moondance Jam 10. That was from 2 years ago. Melissa noticed it and took off her jacket and revealed the same exact shirt and color from 2 years ago which was also the same color. I think they were a bright neon pink color from what I could tell.

Melissa's Mom Judy just sat down and I thanked her for doing the dishes and for separating out the wet business cards of mine that were wet from the rain. She said that she didn't do the dishes but that Amy and Melissa did them. (I will thank them for that later, I thought to myself) Judy asked me what I was doing and I told her that I was writing down the things that I had mentioned to them earlier about all of the 2's that were happening. She said, "Oh yeah, like the fact that there are 2 lady bugs up in the vent in the camper." I said, "Yeah, just like that. Thanks for remembering that one". We noticed them yesterday. I asked her to let me know if she thought of anymore instances of 2 that we had talked about.

Speaking of vents in the camper, my Uncle had noticed that the 2nd vent in the camper's bathroom had a fan in it that was not working. I guess he wanted to use it after he may have stunk up the place. LOL! Not too sure about that. I'm glad I didn't get to know that first hand. But he had an idea to go up on top of the roof and see if we couldn't spin the fan to see if it might just be stuck. We gave it some thought for about 5 seconds. We never did anything about it then.

My Dad went into the camper a little later and noticed that there was water on the floor in the bathroom and he wanted me to check it out, he thought there might be a leak in the plumbing like we had last year. I went in and noticed that my uncle had left the vent open from his earlier bought with the vent and fan. Because he left it open, it would come to pass that he did in fact fix the fan, but he didn't know it yet. His first idea was to get on top of the camper and spin the fan. All I did was close the vent and as it came down, it bounced and shook the fan motor and the fan started going. I wouldn't have even known to check it but my Uncle left the switch in the on position, so when it was jarred loose by the bumping of the vent, it immediately turned on. The vent problem was fixed by an unusual set of circumstances. My Uncle's first idea would have worked, but I am glad that the 2nd thing worked, and we didn't even mean for it to happen that way.

This year for the first time we have 2 campsites. When I first pulled in yesterday morning, I positioned it and thought nope, this won't do. So I pulled it out and pulled it in a 2nd time and that worked perfectly. After everything was set up we had 2 GMC vehicles and 2 tents plus the camper. Brent and Julianna are in 1 tent and Kurt and Shawn are in the other tent. Joey is a friend of theirs but he is staying at another campsite. At our campsite I have banners hanging up that promote my website about tourism in Minnesota . I set out a chair and put some business cards on it for people who walked by to take. We have a really good spot that is just outside of the North Gate. In fact we have the very 1st 2 spots. My Dad just told me that out of all the people who were walking by today, the only ones that would grab a card were those that were in a group of 2. Single people walked right on by and groups of people kept right on walking. Just now 2 friendly Jammers just strolled in to our canopy to say hi. I've never met them before but that's what people do at the Jam is walk around and talk to people and go from campsite to campsite and say hi. They were an older couple in their 40's. The man said to us all, "How many Jams has everyone here been to?" "Seven", someone yelled. Then 2 people under the canopy pointed at 2 first timers and yelled,"1st timers!" The old timers like to pick on the "Newbies" in fun. I asked him what his name was, he didn't hear me. I asked him a second time and then he and his wife both yelled out, "Jim!" It was simultaneous.

Curt, Joey and Shawn are under the canopy right now with us. We have quite a crowd in here keeping dry. Suddenly a shout of joy was heard by all, as the blue sky was appearing!

A little while later Amy and Melissa just came to the campsite and were very happy! They had just listened to the Cory Stevens concert and a friend of mine Richard, who also takes photographs at the Jam, gave them 2 backstage "Meet and Greet" passes! They went backstage and both of them had Cory Stevens autograph them. Pretty cool huh!

My Uncle George and I just got back from watching the Fabulous Thunderbirds, It was a really good show. We started out watching the show from about 20 rows back from the main stage. Out in front of the stage area is a place to stand and if you wait patiently and slowly look for openings, you can advance forward towards the stage. Sometimes you can get way up front and really close, sometimes you can't. It depends on the band that is playing and how many fans they have wanting to get a closer look. There are times when there is some pushing and shoving going on. And to those people who do that, it seems they have no consideration. It's all about them. But it is not that often and there are only a few people that do this. I like just waiting, and soon enough some one will leave and you can move forward. As my Uncle and I advanced row by row moving closer throughout the show, some beach balls were tossed out into the crowd. People love to bounce them around in the crowd. It's fun to see them. There were about 3 of them at the time. As I was in about the 4th row now, a very large beach ball about 4 feet across in diameter bounced off of my head. I was watching the band and was not paying attention to the balls at the time. When someone hits them forward from the back rows, you can't really see them coming but it certainly does not hurt or anything if one bumps your head, the balls are very light. Usually this would never happen because the many people around you will hit the beach balls back up into the air with their arms extended towards the sky. The beach balls would never make it down to head level, and unless they were hit out of the area where people were standing they would never even hit the ground. A few minutes after that we were able to move up to the 3rd row and when we did that, I saw the shadow of the beach ball while looking up towards the stage still getting bounced around behind me. I just knew that for some reason, as odd and unlikely as it seemed that the beach ball was going to hit me on the head again. I watched the shadow of the ball, someone really hit it way up high from way in the back and I saw the shadow of it coming down. I closed my eyes, I did not turn around, and it bounced off of my head. My Uncle said to me, "Did that just hit you?" I said yeah with a big old grin on my face. "It was the 2nd time", and he said, "You sure are keeping track of this." I just smiled and continued to listen to the Fabulous Thunderbirds.

I looked over to my right a little bit and saw a guy up in the first row wearing a unique hat. He was leaning right on the fence as close as you could get to the band. His hat caught my attention. It was a red, white and blue USA flag colored hat that was in the shape of a hand. The hand shaped hat was made to resemble someone who would be making a peace sign with the pointer and middle fingers, or holding up their fingers and making a the sign of 2. I started working my way slowly over towards him. For some reason I was compelled to talk to him. Slowly I got closer. My Uncle followed me. Within about 5 minutes of slowly moving that way, I was now in the 2nd row right behind him. I tapped him on the shoulder and said, "Nice hat!" He said, "Thanks!" I said, "My name is Mike, what is yours?" He said laughingly, "My name is Mike too! Are you enjoying the show?" "Oh yeah, having a great time." I said. He then said that he had been standing there all day to be able to have that good of a spot. The rain had recently passed over us and was now to the east behind the stage off in the distance. A rainbow came out and its arch of colors was cast behind the stage off in the distance to the east. This was not a normal rainbow. It was a double rainbow consisting of 2 arches. Those are rare. I couldn't help thinking about how these instances of 2 were starting to happen more often and seeing the sign of peace on the head of another Mike was really cool. One of the very first things that I prayed for as a new Christian was for peace in the world.

The double rainbow was definitely cool. My Dad took a picture of it with our friend Tom in the foreground. He showed up to the Jam this year with his beard very long, and I made a comment about how he looked like Moses. So this picture my Dad has looks like Moses with 2 rainbows arching over him. It's kind of cool looking if you ask me. During the rest of the Fabulous Thunderbirds show, I saw 2 guitar players play the same guitar and I saw the lead guitar player kick 2 beach balls off of the stage. They sometimes get hit all the way up there and usually the band members want to play along too.

After the Fabulous Thunderbirds show ended they said that they were going to sign autographs over at the merchandise tent. So my Uncle and I headed that way. I went over to the tent and saw that they had 8 x 10 photos there that you could buy and then have the band members sign it. I only brought 12 dollars with me to the jam. So I gave the guy a 10 dollar bill for the purchase of the photo and he did not have a 5 dollar bill to give me for change. So my Uncle paid him the 5 dollars for me. I then had the 5 members of the band sign that photo, but there were only 4 of the band members at the tent. After the 4th member of the band signed the photo I was waiting to see if the 5th band member would come out so I could complete the photo with all 5 signatures.

My uncle then said to me, "You know what? You should get these guys to sign your Moondance Jam jean jacket." I thought that was a great idea, so I had the guys sign my jean jacket. It is an embroidered jean jacket that I had purchased when I was at my very first Jam. It is my most prized Jam collectible. During the signing of the jean jacket, 1 of the band members left. So I was only able to get 3 out of the 5 band members to sign the jacket and only 4 of the band members to sign the 8 x 10 photo.

At that moment I had an idea pop into my head to go backstage to see if I could find the other band members and complete the set. (I had received a backstage pass from the Mountain Ash band members who ran the main stage acts and they also coordinate many of the things that go on behind the scenes to make the show happen. I helped them set up their website and they have given me tickets and backstage passes for doing that. I also take many photos while I am at the Jam and promote the event as well as the local bands that perform there.) I went backstage and I was able to find the guy who never showed up out in the merchandise tent, I also found the guy that left early. So I was now in possession of 2 sets of autographs that no one else at the Jam was able to have gotten because of the one band member never showing at the tent. All the other Jammers could have only gotten 4 of the 5 autographs. I had 2 complete sets, 1 set of 5 autographs on the Jean Jacket and 1 set of 5 autographs on the photo. Even though I had a backstage pass, it is really only good to gain me access to the side stage area. But during the early shows, I can usually go back stage. It's during the late shows and the big name acts that security gets a little tighter.

I am now listening to a band called "War". We were all going to see them play and when we left to go and listen to them, Jillianna was just sitting in the chairs looking a little depressed. I asked her if she wanted to come with us, because her boyfriend was not around. She hopped up and came running. Then she said follow me! She walked fast and was weaving in and out of people, I could barely keep up! When she stopped we had squeezed through a very large crowd of people and we were now in the 4th row watching the band called War. Playing now was a song sung by them called, "Why can't we be friends" I have my journal with me and I am writing while they are playing. People are dancing all around me, I am getting bumped, and this writing in my journal notes is very sloppy right now. A girl just came by and gave Jillianna a great big hug! They were happy to see each other. The girl was with her boyfriend and the 2 of them were wearing identical shirts from the Power Loon Radio station.

There is a bright moon out tonight; it is 2 days away from being full. This would be the 2nd Jam I have been to when there would be a full moon out. Jillianna just asked me if she could borrow 10 dollars. She wanted to buy 2 beers at 5 bucks each. I gave her a ten dollar bill. As she left to go buy some beer, I knew she would never make it back to where I was, it was way too packed. So I was now in the 2nd row again for the 2nd time today. At this time of the concert, if you leave your spot to go to the bathroom or go buy something to drink, you will not be able to get back. When you leave, people just move up into your place.

Often times there are many young ladies that want to get up on guys shoulders and so by doing this they can see a lot better over the crowds head. Continually during the shows there are many young ladies doing this. Right now I just happen to see 2. Next to me also in the 2nd row is a guy wearing another USA colored hat. It was a wrapped up bandanna that had the colors of the USA Flag on it.� Hmmmmmm this is kind of odd I thought. So I felt compelled to ask him his name. Normally I would never even talk to people I don't know and I would just watch the show. He said his name was Jack and his wife was Trisha. I introduced myself as Mike and we continued watching the show. Now I had to think to myself, WOW, 2 guys today that were wearing 2 brightly colored USA hats with names of Mike and Jack that I talked to today for some odd reason who were at the show and had the same name as my Dad and I.� The very first time I ever came to the Moondance Jam in 1998 it was just my Dad and I.

While I was just looking around I saw that in the photographers pit area was my friend Richard who takes photos at the Jam. He was the one who gave Melissa and Amy those Meet and Greet passes and as I caught his attention and waved hi, he lifted up his hand and gave me the peace sign. Those 2 fingers forming the peace sign just as I had seen earlier on Mike's hat. Why did he choose to greet me this way right then and there rather than just waving hi?

The band War just ended playing their set of music and 2 radio stations just cam up on stage and they were throwing out free gifts to the crowd upon which everyone was jumping to try and catch them. The Power Loon was throwing out small beach balls; they threw out about 20 of them. That is fun to watch when all of those beach balls get bouncing through the crowd. They didn't bounce around too long as these were smaller and people were grabbing them to want to have one to take home as a souvenir. The second radio station KQRS 92 came up to the stage and starting throwing out can coolers. I somehow knew I was going to get one of these gifts. 1 of them was tossed right at me and a bunch of people jumped up to catch it, but they all missed it and the can cooler fell to my feet. I just reached down and picked it up. Thank you Father! When the favor of God is upon you, things like that just happen.

I am really squished now between the people and it is rather dark out from the night's sky, but there is some moonlight. So it is getting harder to see to be able to write things down. People are really cramming in now to want to get a good spot to see Joe Cocker who is tonight's main event. He won't be coming out for another hour and I am not inclined to wait in this crowd as it is not in my interest at this time to stay. I felt I needed to go somewhere else. So as I started to leave I just looked down to watch as a walked out through the crowd. As I exited the very most crowded area I started coming out to where I could see the ground and the pea rock I was walking on. I looked down again and saw a Can Cooler that KQRS 92 had just been throwing out. Since the crowd out a ways from the stage had dispersed, I was able to see it in the moonlight and other lights from the stage that illuminated that area. I thought, WOW, this is unexpected. I now had 2 can coolers that were thrown out as gifts by the 2nd radio station. (In 1987 my wife and I bought a brand new Ford Mustang, 2 years later when I returned to Minnesota , I put 2 bumper stickers on that car. They are KQRS 92 bumper stickers. I still have that car and plan to give it to my son as that was also the year he was born.) So I then opened my journal to start writing again about the 2nd can cooler I had just found and while I started unzipping my journal I must have dropped my pen. Oh boy, in the dark with trash laying everywhere, how was I going to find a dark purple pen? I said a little prayer and after looking down and walking around in a circle for a few minutes a light had cast down from the stage showing my purple pen. I picked it up and continued writing. God is definitely watching over me right now.

I walked back to the campsite and showed everyone my can coolers. Razz just stopped by. He wanted to emphasize that his name is Razz with 2 Z's. LOL! He is the guitarist from Tea Bag Jerry a local Minnesota band. He also wrote and sang a very cool song about the Moondance Jam called "Moondancin' ". In that song he happens to mention both websites in which I am a part of with my partners Steve and Scott C. The last verse of "Moondancin'" goes like this, "We're going 2havefun, and now we're Minnesota Bound!" Razz just recently told us that one of the band members from Tea Bag Jerry had decided that he didn't want to play in the band anymore, so Tea Bag Jerry would not be performing at this years Jam. He was very bummed out about it. He said that he is going to have a new band called, the "Minnesota Whiskey Pigzz" again with 2 Z's. LOL! I wish him all the best and I hope to listen to his band next year.

We all stared up into the night sky from where our campsite is. God was putting on a Northern Lights show up in the northern horizon of the sky. It is very neat to see the illuminated gasses dance in the atmosphere. It doesn't happen that often, but it happens more often in the middle of winter. This was the middle of summer. We watched them for a time and as they dissipated and went away, my Uncle said that they won't come back anymore tonight so we may as well just sit down. I thought to myself, but this is no ordinary night and in my heart I knew we would see them again. It was also the 2nd time I had watched the Northern Lights with my Uncle.

It is later in the evening now, about 3 am. This is the time of the night that I like when all of us are sitting around the fire and talking. Since everyone is all done running around and doing there thing, and finished watching the music. It is late and quiet and peaceful. Chad and Jessica stopped over and they are a real treat for us! Chad plays guitar and sings songs around the campfire. As far as I am concerned, the real flavor of the Moondance Jam is when this happens. People sit around their campfires, neighboring campers come together and make a big circle and we listen to and sort of have our own small music session with our friends. This is the 2nd Jam in which Chad has blessed me with his gift of guitar playing and singing. He started playing and I just had this sense of peace come over me. The 2nd song he sang was about God forgiving you. I love that song. The main chorus of the song goes like this, "You forgive me, and I'll forgive you, we'll forgive each other til the cows turn blue and we'll go a fishin' in the heavens!" When he sang this song as his 2nd song, upon which I had no idea of which songs he would sing and in which order, as he sang this one, I just felt lifted. I jumped up out of my chair and said very loudly, "Praise God!" We all laughed with joy, as everyone in my circle knew of the amazing signs of 2 that I have been recording in my journal. Chad however had no idea.

While Chad was playing we saw another light show, yes, a 2nd Northern Lights show. This one was bigger and more magnificent and stretched across the entire sky and was almost right over the top of us. Chad kept playing and we asked him if he knew of a song that had a 2 in it? He sat and thought for quite a few minutes and nothing was coming to him. So he just said, "Well, I don't know why I am going to play this song right now, but if I do know of a song that has a 2 in it, this one surely does".� He began to strum his guitar and out of his mouth came the song, "Signs, Signs everywhere Signs". That song does not have a single 2 in it. LOL! It was truly a sign. Praise God! Today there was a double rainbow and 2 Northern Light shows.

Today I woke up on Day 3 of the Jam, My Uncle, Dad and I went to a youth church breakfast fundraiser which was happening on the Jam fairgrounds over by the new softball fields. It costs $5.00 for all the pancakes you can eat. This year they were moved over to this location. I had a thought, hmmmm, 3 of us eating breakfast at the new softball fields, there were 3 new fields. Has the sign changed to 3? Do I need to open my eyes further? Then I got my 1st significant sign of 2. Bill Bielow who is the owner of the Jam with his wife Kathy just stopped by to ask the church group that sponsored the breakfast how everything was going. They said that the location is a little out of the way and people were not aware of where they had moved to possibly. They said business was a lot slower, but they were getting some business. Bill then ordered 40 breakfasts to go. I thought what a nice gesture that was. 40 breakfasts at $5.00 each totaled $200. Thanks Bill!� Here we go for another day of 2's! I saw Bill only one other time during the Jam (a total of twice where usually I would see him more than 20 times.) and told him how good of a job I thought that his security staff and gate staff were doing. It seemed to be going a lot smoother than it had in Jams past. I asked him if he had changed anything, and he said, "We just have better communication this year". I told him it surely shows this year and to pass that along to his staff for a job well done.

We went back to our campsite and I shared my journal entries with 6 people at our campsite and 6 more people at Tom and Holly's campsite. While they were reading the scribbled journal entries, their attention was held to it very well. They never looked up. Some of the comments I heard from them after they read it were, "It is very interesting how you were able to notice these things". I don't think that they truly believed the signs I was seeing were from God, but that I was tuned in to noticing things that contained a 2. Holly then told me that they had 2 sons and that they also had 2 "adopted sons" as they called them, that were raised by them in a sense. 1 of each of them (2) was at the Jam with them this year.

As I was sitting at their campsite next to their fire, I saw a vendor come down from the Jam fairgrounds to the North Gate area. He was carrying 2 "Tony the Tiger" cardboard cutouts to advertise the breakfast cereal Frosted Flakes. Everyone in my group was watching him to see what he would do with them. The fact that he was carrying 2 of them caught all of our attention. He left one by the gate area and propped it up against one of the poles. He left and took the other one with him. Then the one he left blew down. I thought this isn't a significant 2, if it was he would have left them both. It is not my intention to just write down every occurrence of a 2, like a simple pair of shoes lying on the ground next to me, but unique occurrences of 2's are the ones that have my eye. As the one cutout blew down a male staff member picked it up and repositioned it. It blew down a 2nd time and then a female staff member came over and put it in a second location up against another pole and she tied it. We all watched and thought it was just a simple thing, 2 cutouts, 2 simple gusts of wind, and it finally ended up in the 2nd location placed by the 2nd person that picked it up. The vendor who originally placed it and then left had no idea of the events that transpired. As small as they seemed, they were big to me.

Tom was still reading my journal as I sat at his campsite and he then looked up at me and said, "I also own some land near Nickerson, MN".� Wow, I thought, that is pretty cool! How rare is that, that we are camping here as neighbors and we each own land near each other 100 miles from here? He then told me of a story about how he hurt himself and had to be brought to the hospital by one of his adopted sons Josh. Tom had to get 2 sets of stitches on his head. Their land was very secluded and if it hadn't been for Josh, he didn't know what he would have done.

I just happen to have looked at my watch, it read 2:02 pm. LOL! What caused me to look at it just then? My Uncle is at the neighbors playing the golf ball game. My Dad just came over to watch him play. I am sitting under the canopy with Judy. Today is breezy, sunny and very pleasant and peaceful. Judy said, "We have some steaks and some ribs marinating for supper tonight." Yumm, I would love to try them both! Praise God!

People are playing both games on either side of us, including the Polish Horse Shoes, and then 2 guys came up to me and asked, "You wouldn't happen to have any extra tickets would you?" I said, "Oh I am sorry, I don't have anymore. I gave the 2 away that I had already." (I gave 1 to Brent and 1 to a worker at the North Gate.) But I new my Dad had an extra one so I called him over. Concert passes cost $80 each if you buy them ahead of time otherwise at the Jam they cost $120. Camping passes cost $60 dollars each. They didn't want to have to pay the full $120. My Dad sold him the extra ticket he had for $80 and just gave him the extra camping pass he had. 2 days of the Jam were over, 2 days were left. I am just sitting here writing, I expect more things are to come.

I have 2 broken chairs now. I set them just outside of our canopy and placed some business cards on one of them. I took a piece of wood shaped like a triangle, it looked like an arrow. I told my Dad yesterday that I was going to write on the piece of wood, "Take One" as you often see that at businesses that want to hand out their advertising flyers. My Dad then said, "Write on there, Take 2." What a good idea, why didn't I think of that? People took a lot of them over the Jam. Hundreds of them were taken; I only have a few left. The 2 guys that bought the ticket from my Dad each took 1.

It is now 2:35 pm. Mountain Ash plays in 25 minutes. They are friends of mine that I had met when I came to my 1st Jam in 1998. But I didn't really get to know them good until my 2nd Jam. I helped them set up their website. Kevin, one of the band members, knows how to make web pages; he just needed help with the HTML coding and how to get the files uploaded to a server and then he could pretty mucg figure things out on his own and now makes updates when needed. They always hook me up with a couple free tickets and a backstage pass. Praise God! Now if I could only get my camping for free! LOL! I will say a prayer for that next year.

During the Mountain Ash concert, I talked to Mark and asked him where I could go to take pictures of them while they played on stage. He said I could go anywhere I wanted to; just don't go in front of him! LOL! The band members are Roger, Mark, Gary and Kevin. I went right up on the main stage during their set and took pictures, and then I went down in the front of the stage. After I took quite a few photos, I went out into the crowd to enjoy the rest of the show. Even though I could have stayed right up on the side of the stage or right down close by the stage, the best view and best sound is out in the crowd. Plus it's more fun to be out there and dance or be near where there are other people dancing.

I was standing out in the crowd now and watching Mountain Ash play. I noticed that this earlier crowd was mostly standing in pairs of 2 people. It was rather odd. Everywhere I looked I saw no large crowds, just twosomes. Except me, I was standing all alone. I kind of stood out being alone. Just as I had thought that, a total stranger came and stood next to me. Someone I would have never said anything to in my past. I thought, how cool, I am not standing here alone anymore. Thank you Father. Then I thought there must be a reason that he came and stood by me, so I introduced myself and said hi. I asked him his name, he replied, "Tony". I have a good Christian friend of mine named Tony, but remember the 2 Tony the Tiger cutouts from earlier, coincidence? No way! Then one of Tony's friends walked up to him and they started talking.

It took me along time to talk to Tony. I sat and thought for a moment that I knew I was not alone anymore. I then felt a deep emotion come over me. God put words into my heart, and for the very first time in my life, God spoke to me so clearly. It wasn't in a voice but it was like an overwhelming thought that came into me and I just knew I didn't think of it on my own out of the blue. He said 5 words.
"Be at peace with God". It was spiritually holy for me. My body felt lifted and full of joy. When I thought about what he had just said to me and what it fully meant, I turned and walked away from where Tony and his friend were standing and I wept. Tears of joy came down my face, I was so happy and yet I was standing there with tears rolling down my face. What an experience. It felt great. I had on my mind always of what God was thinking about me, and He knew that and said, "Be at peace with God". And then I wrote this down and something came to me that said, "He wants to be loved and forgiven too". I don't know what God could ever do that he would need to be forgiven for, but I would forgive Him for anything and I do love Him. How much has He forgiven me for! And so I wrote it down. It was such a revelation. It was like an answer. Was it an ending? Would the 2's stop now? And all this happened during the Mountain Ash concert.

The 2's did not stop, they became even more incredible! I walked back to the campsite and stopped by Tom and Holly's campsite along the way. Tom said to me, "Mike I don't know if I have ever showed you this before at past Jams but take a look at this." He showed me a scar on his hand near his thumb. He then said that he was born with 2 thumbs. I would have never known that, I never bothered to look at his hand to notice the scar and slight deformation near his thumb.

At 4:20 pm, I had the urge to quit smoking. It had to do with the clock in my camper. Someone set it to 4:20 and it does not have a battery in it. I changed the time yesterday to 7:11 and then again today it was changed back to 4:20 so I reset it again to 7:11. Brent and Joey were changing it I found out as a joke. They said 4:20 was supposed to be some kind of international sign for catching a buzz, they like to fool around. But at that moment, I stopped smoking for 1 full day during the Jam. 24 hours and 20 minutes later, I grabbed another pack of smokes. In Jams past the clock was always set at 8:10 and this year they said to me that I shouldn't be so cheap and buy a battery for the clock! LOL. I have since then quit for a few days here and a few days there but can't seem to muster the will power to quit all the way once and for all. I will just keep trying and praying about it. When I set the clock to 7:11, I had no rhyme or reason for doing that, I just did it. I flipped the clock over and began spinning the little wheel and just so it didn't say 8:10 or 4:20 was all I was trying to do. There is a store named 7 - 11 and it also rhymes, so I think that is why I set it to that time. But on the day that I quit for 1 full day, the date was July 11th, 2003. (7/11/03) When I realized the oddity of that date coupled with the time that I had picked and had changed the time on the clock to that time twice, that is when this thought came over me to quit. It was like I needed to do that at that time right then and there. I told everyone that I had just quit smoking and I did. The next day they all saw me smoking again and even though I started again, the fact that I did it for 1 day during the Jam seemed very significant to a few. I felt like a failure.

But just after I quit smoking for the day, 2 ladies came walking by our campsite and stopped in to rest and to finish their drinks before they went into the Jam fairgrounds. They saw me writing in my journal and asked me what I was writing. I said to them, "This is the neatest journal you have ever seen!" This grabbed their interest. I asked them if they wanted to hear some of what I was writing. They said, "Yes, please do." So I flipped my journal pages back to the beginning and while I read it, something incredible happened. I started reading it out loud.

"On the 2nd day of the Moondance Jam, my Dad gave me this journal. It was July 10th, 2003 - Let me describe the current scene. There are 6 of us sitting under a canopy keeping dry with a slow burning fire." Now as I read just this very first part, my Dad and Uncle as well as the 2 ladies all began laughing and saying, "Oooooooo" as I was reading my journal to them. I thought, "What was so eerie that they would do this? Well as it turns out there were 6 of us again and it was raining and we had a fire going again. So this is what they "Ooooooo'd" about.� I continued reading, while everyone was silent. "My Dad and Uncle are 2 of the six and they are here with me along with some good friends!." As I read that part, this was again also true as My Dad and Uncle were also 2 of the 6 again. More "Ooooooo's" came from the group. I continued reading. "!.Amy, Melissa and Holly's sister, Kaye." What I read out loud this time was different than what I wrote from yesterday. Because yesterday I did not know or remember what Holly's sister name was. Yesterday I wrote just, "Holly's sister". Later that day I asked her name again and then remembered it, so this time while reading it out loud I said it just like I wrote above. When I said, "Holly's sister Kaye". The 2 complete strangers, 2 random women who just happen to stop by and take a rest out of the short sprinkling rain and finish their drinks, were simply awe struck. And so was my Dad, Uncle, Amy and I. For instead of the 6 being myself, my Dad, my Uncle, Amy, Melissa, and Holly's sister (Kaye), there were now sitting here with me a day later, my Dad, my Uncle, Amy, a total stranger named Holly and another named Debra Kaye! Wow, the 2 ladies thought, that is wild! They had to leave and they went into the Jam fairgrounds.

I began to think, am I going to see a repeat of things that happened to me yesterday? Well 2 very significant things that happened yesterday were the double rainbow and the 2 Northern Light shows. It was sunny out right now and it was sprinkling. There was one big cloud over us and it was a very short rain that would not last. I thought about this and I went out from the canopy and looked into the sky, but I saw no rainbow. Then I thought about it some more and in order to see a rainbow the rain would have to be away from us with the sun shining into the rain droplets; which meant that we could not see the rainbow, for it was directly over us. Anyone who was a mile or so to the west of us would have been able to see one, and I am quite sure this was the case. That night Chad came over to play guitar again and we again saw an even greater Northern Light show for the 2nd night in a row. Since we only saw 1 light show that night instead of 2, I am going out on a limb here and I am guessing that the folks, who saw a rainbow today from the town of Walker which is west of us about 3 miles or so, must have seen a single arched rainbow right over the top of the Jam fairgrounds.

Mike just walked by our campsite. He is the guy with the USA peace sign hat. I introduced him to Brent who was with me at the campsite and his girlfriend Jillianna was there also. Mike walked up to the canopy that we were under and he was wearing an AC/DC shirt (a rock and roll band). The funny thing about this is that last year when I met Brent at the casino, I was wearing an AC/DC shirt. SO here I am now introducing Brent to another Mike who was wearing another AC/DC shirt. I like the beat of many AC/DC songs but now I am not too keen on the words they often use in a lot of their songs. My taste in music is changing. This may also reflect that I used to be on a "Highway to Hell" but now I am on a different path and if it were to be compared to a highway, I would say it is compared to the no speed limit Audubon in Germany. I can't seem to go down this new path fast enough. But at the same time I know that I could not absorb everything that is coming to me that fast. I am so new in Jesus. Patience is what I need. It would be like you can't start feeding a small baby the meat and potatoes by feeding them some steak, you have to start with pureed foods.

My uncle just came over to me and said to me that he just found out something else that was interesting about Tom. Not that it was weird at all but yet another 2. Tom owns land near where I own land. Tom has a neighbor by this land named Ken. Ken works with my Uncle for the State of Minnesota at the DOT, I work for the DOC. Our world is definitely getting smaller here so the saying goes.

I stopped over to the campsite where Melissa, Judy and Amy were cooking some supper on the grill. I was sitting in a chair writing in the journal. A friend of theirs stopped by. His name was Jack. (Another Jack like my Dad's name I thought) He had a tattoo on his arm that was staring right at me. It was of a cross and it said JESUS on the bottom portion of it. A conversation came up amongst them about not drinking alcohol and driving. Jack made this comment, "Especially not while on a motorcycle!" He went on to explain about how he has been in 2 motorcycle accidents. After that short visit, he said goodbye to the 3 ladies and left. I went back to the camper which was only about 8 campsites away.

While I was just in the camper, Melissa and her Mom Judy stopped in and asked if I had some chewing gum. I immediately handed her some from out of the gift bag that we had gotten from the Coleman camping display booth. It took only 2 seconds after she asked for some gum, for me to turn around and quickly hand it to her. I then had one of those overwhelming thoughts pop into my head that I had to write down after I said this to Melissa twice in a row. The first time I said it, it sounded so good and so I said it out loud again. "You get what you need, right when you need it." It seemed like this was given to me to think about as to how God often works with people. While I was writing this down, I had numerous distractions that were hard to avoid and to be able to write without being interrupted. If I would not have written this down quickly, I knew I would forget it. It seemed important that I write it down.

I was sitting under the canopy a short while later and Melissa and her Mom were sitting there with me. I noticed something that I have seen before at all the other Jams, but only now did I realize it. There were 2 handicapped Jammers camping near us. They each had these newer 4 wheel drive looking wheel chairs that would go through the rougher terrain and muddy areas in the camp grounds very well. In past Jams I have seen them in other wheel chairs, but I never ever talked to them. And this year their newer sporty 4 wheel drive looking wheel chairs caught my eye. I don't know why, but for some reason I looked over at Melissa and asked her if she knew those 2 people in the wheel chairs, 1 guy and 1 girl? She said no that she did not know their names. I said, "Well now, I just bet that there is a significant 2 with the names of these 2 Jammers." The 2 jammers who were in wheel chairs camped at different locations and probably did not even know of each other, but they always passed by our site as almost everyone in our area has to, to get into the Jam. I felt the urge to run after them and talk to them and introduce myself. And so off I ran chasing the man in his wheel chair. Those new ones really move fast! I caught up with the guy first and I found out that his name was Bill. Hmmmm I thought, nothing too odd about that.� Then I went to talk to the woman in the wheel chair and introduced myself. Her name was Kay. Another Kay I thought but her name was spelled with no "e" on the end. Then I thought about it for a minute. And then it hit me like a ton of bricks and I got a big smile on my face. I went back to the campsite and Melissa asked me with eagerness in her voice. "Well, what are their names? Tell me!" I laughed and I told her that she would have to read the book to find out, but that it was a very interesting 2. You see, the 2 people who own and operate the Moondance Jam are husband and wife named Bill and Kathy Bieloh. If you take 2 letters out of the second name (Kathy), you would have Bill and Kay. I asked Bill his name first and Kay her name second. Well Bill and Kay, I am glad I got to have met you and glad I felt the urge to chase you down.

Yesterday I wrote that I picked out a Belt Buckle that had a buffalo on it as a gift for my Dad, I was going to charge it on my credit card but the guy that would be able to do that was not there then. Something told me to get up and go get that now, and so I asked my Dad to come along. We went to the vendor's stand where the buckle was at and when we got there I asked them if they had it set aside and if the guy was there at that time to be able to run the credit card and pay for it. They looked all over and could not find it. There was only one of those left and they looked again in the glass case and someone from their store had placed it back into the case. The guy was still not there to run the credit card so my Dad just gave them the money for it; $22.00. Now this was the 2nd gift that I tried to buy where the recipient of it to be ended up buying it for themselves. My Uncles 8 x 10 photo of the Fabulous Thunderbirds and now my Dad's belt buckle with the Buffalo on it. I had tried to pay for both things but the way it worked out, I couldn't. It's a good thing we went when we did, as someone could have purchased the only one that they had left as it was put back in the display case accidentally.

While I was taking photos during the Jam I ran into a vendor who called himself Humie as a nickname. He saw me and hinted at possibly hooking me up with some food from his stand if I would get him some close up photos of the bands. I told him that I would do this and that I would just need for him to get me a camera of his. He bought 2 disposable cameras and I would take photos for him and then bring his camera back to him. He worked at the Santa Lucia stand where they have some of the best food. During the Jam I had gone to get his camera from him on many occasions, taking photos and bringing his camera back to him. I wondered at first if he was going to hook me up with some food. Then as I took photos for him, I actually started talking to him and learned quite a few things about this guy who cooked food for 16 hours a day over a hot grill while we as Jammers went about our 4 day vacation. He told me of how he took care of the owner's kids and how he liked to help out handicapped people. He once recited a beautiful poem to me while he was scraping his grill. He told me he wrote it and the poem was called, "Existence". While he recited it and scraped the grill clean, the words to this beautiful poem seemed to be such words in which offered up deep thought and contemplation. I do not remember one single word for when he told it, I was just mesmerized by the way he told it and did it with such a smooth and relaxing fluidness and did it as he vigorously scraped that grill. I wrote down the name of the poem later and he also said that it was in the National Library of Poetry. I too have posted a few poems there but could not find his. If I see him again I will ask him to recite it again for me and I will have my journal with me. If you see him at the Jam sometime, ask him to recite it to you. I bet he would get a kick out of that. If he looks at you with confusion as to why and how you would know that, just tell him the Flippster sent you. Even as I have written quite a few poems now myself, I can't remember them by memory and recite any of them like he did that one.

I invited Humie over to our campsite the last night to listen to music around the fire and to have some conversation. He told me to pick him up after the last show and so I did. After the first 2 days of taking photos for Humie and expecting to get some food, I never even asked him for any food. He never offered any and I didn't want to take any from him. This feeling came over me to just give. I gave what I could; many close up photos of the bands that were at the jam. While we were sitting around the campfire after the last show of the Jam, he told me something that I had to write down that was very similar to the thought I had written down earlier when Melissa asked me for some gum. He said, "You meet the people you need to meet, when you need to meet them." I thanked him for that. I thought about it and it came over me that it was another way that God seems to work through people to get your attention. And God was getting mine through Humie and the gift of giving.

Earlier in the afternoon Chad stopped by wearing a "Boston" shirt (His favorite Band) and said that he didn't know if he was going to be able to play guitar tonight because he split open his thumb and didn't bring a pick with him to strum his guitar. I told him that I would find him one as I knew the Mountain Ash guys back stage would be able to get me one. Just then after telling him this, a strong thought came over me to get up and run and go back stage and find him a pick. So I did, I walked through the North gate and started running up the small hill towards the center of the Jam fairgrounds. I then headed East and started to run towards the main stage where I knew I would be able to find Chad a pick if I could catch one of the Mountain Ash guys. Just as I turned and headed that way, Kevin from Mountain Ash was walking straight at me. Wow, I thought, how convenient was this? I told him of the situation and that I needed a guitar pick. He looked in his pockets as he was sure he had some monogrammed picks with Mountain Ash written on them. I thought, Oh WOW that would be really nice to have one of those. As he felt around his pockets he could not find one, and then he told me to follow him to an area that was behind another stage so he could get me one. He took 2 steps and then stopped. He said, "Oh wait just a minute! I have something even better for you Flippster!" He pulled out his wallet and he dug into the crevice of it down deep into the corner and handed me a pick that he had gotten backstage from one of the band members of the band "Boston" who had just played the night before. I thanked Kevin and went on my way back to find Chad. Not only was I needing to find him and a pick, he actually came to me with the most perfect pick. That is how God works! Had I not gotten up to run, when I had the feeling to do so that came over me, I would have missed Kevin and that opportunity.

Chad had gone back to his campsite and I just had to find him, I knew that he would absolutely love this guitar pick. As I entered his campsite I boldly said to all of the Jammers who were camping in Chad's group that I had a gift for Chad from God. They all looked at me a little strangely, but were willing to see what I was talking about. Chad came out of his camper and I placed the pick into his hands and said to him that it was a gift from God. He looked at it and could not believe his eyes. I could tell he was very amazed and full of joy. He said the main reason he came to the Jam this year was to be able to listen to the music by "Boston". He had spent 30 dollars on his new "Boston" T-shirt he was currently wearing which showed just how much this was true. He looked at the pick again and saw the logo of Boston and he said that he would never use that to play his guitar and that he would save that pick as a souvenir. He ended up coming over to our campsite that night and played with his sore thumb and through the pain.

On the 2nd Day of the Moondance Jam I was able to get 2 bands to sign my jean jacket; The Fabulous Thunderbirds and Mountain Ash. After the incident with the 2 ladies and the repeat of my journal, I had 1 of those thoughts come over me again. I thought that if I would be able to get a lot more autographs on my Moondance Jam jean jacket, that I could auction it off on http://www.ebay.com and give the money to charity. But I would need to get some really good signatures to make it something special and appealing to bidders. This was my most prized Moondance Jam collectible and yet I felt so assured right then that it would be a really fun thing to do to get autographs on it and give it away to charity. So when this thought came into me, it just felt right and I was now on a mission.

On the 3rd day of the Jam I was now trying to have some of the guys from Mountain Ash take my jacket way backstage and get some autographs from some of the performers. I could only go on the side of the stage with my pass and it just wasn't going to do. I handed the jacket off and said a prayer and left it in God's hands. I checked back an hour later and they had managed to get Rick Springfield to sign it. This was the 2nd and only other time that I ran into Kathy one of the owners of the Moondance Jam. The jacket was passed to her and she helped hand it back to me over the backstage fence. Rick Springfield is well known for his song, Jesse's Girl. While I was standing there wearing the jacket a lady who was also on the side of the stage near the front photographers pit, over heard me talking about the jacket. She grabbed the marker from me and started signing the jacket. I thought, "Oh no, wait lady! LOL! Don't do that! I then said, "Ummm, I'm sorry, but who are you?" She said, "Don't you recognize me, I am Sandra Bullock! Well actually I am her stand in double; I have been in some movies where I stood in for her during taping." I turned around and looked at her, and WOW, she looked exactly like the real Sandra Bullock! Sandra Bullock is one of my favorite actresses. Going along with the 2 theme, how could I say no to Sandra Bullock's double wanting to sign the jacket? And so she signed it, Kris Haley. �

After Rick Springfield played there were 2 local Minnesota bands playing at the other 2 stages. I knew I would only be able to get one of the bands to sign it when they were done playing, so I listened to them both and was just looking for a sign as to which one to get. The time was running out and they were close to ending their sets. I walked over to listen to a band called "The Situation" for the 2nd time, the first time nothing came to me and I had not yet heard the other band that was also playing. They were playing the last song of their set. It was a song by Rick Springfield called "Jesse's Girl"! Ahhh, I knew then that I had to get them to sign the jacket and the whole band signed it very happily. Rick Springfield had just signed the jacket a little while ago and now these guys were singing one of his songs as their last one. Thanks Guys! Praise God!

On the last day of the Jam I went into the other stage areas - besides the main stage there are 2 other stages. I listened to a Cajun band called the Treater band. While I was there listening to them they played a song called Tu Tu. (Pronounced like Two Two) When I heard that, I knew I had to have them sign the jacket and when the song finished as it was their last of their set also, they happily agreed to all autograph the jean jacket.

The main finale' of the Moondance Jam was Alice Cooper. Now I have never listened to his music but I knew of him and he has a lot of fans. The words to some of his songs are kind of sad and he is a deep and dark performer. I have no idea what his spirituality is. My first thought is of the dark side, but it could be just an act. It is not for me to judge him in this. But I knew I had to get his signature on this jacket and thought it would be very challenging to get it. It was late and I was wearing the jacket and sitting in the side tent area next to the stage. Alice Cooper was singing on stage and I was just waiting. I could not see him perform from the side stage area.

As I waited, I saw a woman giving her husband a neck rub and made a comment to him that he was a lucky man to have her do that for him. He was a big guy; very large in size. He must have weighed 400 pounds. He looked up at me and just nodded. She rubbed his back some more and then to my surprise, she came behind me and started rubbing my neck area. It felt very good and I could feel my skin tingle and then there was a good smell. She asked me how it felt and I complimented her on her talent in this. She said that the peppermint oil that she was using to rub my neck soaks in through the skin and helps the effectiveness of it. When she was done, I thanked her again and I felt totally refreshed. The Alice Cooper band was still playing and near the end of his show more people were starting to come to the side stage area where I was sitting. I saw a young woman standing by the gate to get backstage. I asked her what her name was and she said, "Sarah". I introduced myself and then saw that she had a meet and greet pass. I then asked her to do me a big favor. She was curious and said,"What?" I told her about the jean jacket and then asked her if she would wear it when she went backstage to see Alice Cooper. She had a CD of his that she wanted him to sign and was a little nervous about having him sign the jacket and her CD. I told her to just tell Alice Cooper to sign both, the CD and the Jacket. She agreed and put on my jacket. I thought great!

But then I wanted to get one more thing, I wanted to be able to get backstage into the meet and greet area and get a picture of Alice Cooper signing the jacket. The band stopped playing and came backstage. As they came down the back steps, the lead guitar player for the band stopped over to the side stage area where I was standing and there were a bunch of people there greeting him. The guitar player started handing out some Alice Cooper monogrammed guitar picks. I was 3 people behind the fence and could barely see him. I just reached my hand through 2 rows of people and opened my hand up and left it there. I was waiting patiently and extending my hand through the people as far as I could. He put one in my hand and then he waved goodbye to the fans and went backstage. I felt pretty lucky but I knew there was more to come.

Then one of the Moondance Jam staff members came to the fence and asked to see all of the people who had a meet and greet pass. Sarah was there and I saw her go way backstage wearing my jacket. Now I was standing there thinking, how am I going to get behind stage into this area to get a photo? After about 5 minutes a member of the stage crew came walking by and said, "OK, follow me." He was talking to 2 other girls that were standing near me. I thought, "OK, this is my cue!" The stage crew guy walked up a few feet and ducked under the stage and the 2 girls followed. I got right in line with them and ducked under the stage also. (I know, I should not have done that, Bill and Kathy are going to be upset with me.) But I did it. We crouched down and walked under the stage and when we got to the back area I assumed that these 3 people were going to the meet and greet area themselves. Why else would they feel the need to sneak under the stage I thought? Well when we started walking in the backstage area, they started saying that this was going to be really fun! The 2 girls following the guy said that they had never done anything like this before. I was getting excited! Then they started walking to the exit gate behind the stage where the vehicles go in and out. I became confused and asked them where they were going? The 2 girls said that they were going to ride the big round 2 person bungee cord ride at the back of the fairgrounds. Oh I said, "I can't go with you, I don't have any money for that ride." They said "Oh well." and kept walking. So they snuck under the stage for the sole purpose of just to save themselves from walking around the stage area to get to the bungee ride. It was just a shortcut for them. That seemed very odd to me, but I was where I needed to be and their shortcut was now my shortcut.

Now I am by myself and walked over to the meet and greet area. I met a few people and took a few pictures of Alice Cooper signing autographs and made sure that I was able to get this guy's 2 daughters in the photo with Alice in the background. Then Alice Cooper signed my jacket that Sarah was wearing. I moved into position and took 2 photos of him signing the jacket. Someone was starting to check for passes and I knew my luck was about to run out. But I was able to get 2 nice photos and then left the area before a scene was made. I met Sarah back where I was before and she gave me the jacket back. She was also glad that she got her CD signed from him also.

The Autographed Moondance Jam jean jacket will be posted on ebay.com for people to bid on it to own for themselves. The money received from the selling of the jacket at this online auction website will be given to the American Red Cross of Minnesota. They help families in need and do a lot of other charity work world wide. I am going to try and set it up so that the jacket goes up for auction just before the start of the Moondance Jam 13 and ends on the last day of the Jam. So If you are a fan of some of these bands or know someone who is, tell them in July of 2004 during the Moondance Jam 13, that they can bid on this jacket. I will try and get it on display at the Jam somewhere prominent so you can all see it there. (Hint for Bill and Kathy!help!..LOL!)

The jacket was autographed by:
Mountain Ash - All members
The Fabulous Thunderbirds - All members
Rick Springfield - himself
Sandra Bullock's look a like Kris Haley
The Treater Band - All members
The Situation - All members
Rockin Doopsie Jr. - himself
Alice Cooper - himself
And me - Mike Flipp - "The Flippster"
(Included with the jacket will be photos of Alice Cooper signing it while Sarah was wearing it, and maybe a few other goodies if I can get some donated.)

After I got the jacket back from Sarah, I went over to the vendor's stand and picked up Humie and we went over to sit around the fire for the last night. I then went over to get Tom, Holly's husband. I found him and told him that he needed to come over to see this. I was going to give his wife Holly the guitar pick that I got handed to me by the Lead Guitar player from Alice Cooper. He said he would come right over. Holly was telling us that she is a really big fan of Alice Cooper. She wanted to get back stage to meet him so much that she would do anything. Well she never did get back there, but I am sure she watched the entire show from the best place she could get a spot at. She can't stand for long periods of time and her husband brings a stool for her so she can sit on it.

Tom and I went up to the fire where everyone was sitting and I went up to Holly and told her that I knew she wanted to see him in person so much, but I had something for her as a consolation. I handed her the guitar pick and she was very happy. The gift of giving is so powerful.

During our final nights campfire there were 2 drunkards that came across my path that I extended a hand to a helped out. The first was an older Native American fellow who just happened to pass out on the ground next to Tom and Holly's small fire near there camper. I talked to him several times and just showed him some compassion and asked him a couple of times that evening if he needed anything. He just looked at me with sincerity and all he wanted to do was to rest by the fire and keep warm for a little while. He laid there on his back, straight as an arrow with his hands crossed over his heart. I would go over and see if he was doing ok and he always assured me each time that he was. So we left him in peace and later he finally did get up and go on his way.

The other drunkard man, an elderly man from northern Minnesota as he stated was walking by our campsite just as my Dad and I were heading into the Jam fairgrounds for the staff only party that was going on until 4am at least. It must have been about 2:30 or 3am when my Dad and I were walking up to the gate just as this drunkard old man was coming by and also heading into the gate. The Jam fairgrounds were empty and a security crew was making sure that everyone was leaving the area. All 3 of us came to the north gate at the exact same time the security crew of about 6 men was there closing the gate. They would not let us in. My Dad and I talked with the security crew and they still would not let us in. I quickly thought in my mind that I knew God's favor was upon us and I knew He was with me. I knew we were going to get in and I just kept a very positive attitude and had a lot of faith that it would be so. My Dad mentioned to them that we were going to the staff party to see our friends from the Mountain Ash band. He told them to call them on their radios and check and see. My Dad said that with confidence and they agreed to let us in. But then they said that the old man could not go with us. Hmmmm, I thought. The old man then said that he needed to go through the fair grounds and go out the East Gate. The security guys said that he could not go that way. I then said to them that my Dad and I would escort him all the way through. They strongly said to us that if we made sure he got all the way through, that they would let us go in. And so they opened the gate and let us in. We walked over to the East Gate and it was closed. So we continued walking into the fairgrounds and as we walked we saw the empty stage with a few lights on and there happened to be 3 plastic chairs left there out in the seating area. All 3 of us sat down and had a conversation. I sat in the middle of my Dad and our new old friend. We talked and talked and stared up the stage where a single light shown down on the center of it where a single stool had been dimly lit up by one of the lights. As we talked the old man said a few things that I do remember clearly but that I thought was a bit odd. We told him about how we make websites and that we come to this event every year and take photos and stuff like that. The old man said to me that he didn't like all of the mean postings on the Jam bulletin board online. He also didn't like all of the pornography on the internet. What struck me odd about this is that most of the older folks I know do not even have access to the internet, they are not computer savvy and I am sure that internet access from the small northern town that he was from was very limited at best if they even had it all. But this older guy seemed to know a few things about the internet. There are many good things about the internet and many bad things as well.

We then got up from our chairs and headed over by the South Gate and where the music was coming from. We told him that we would take him into the party as long as he behaved himself. My Dad told him that. It was kind of humorous I thought as one 60 year old man, my Dad, told this to another 60 something year old man and just like a child the old man said that he would be really good and would not get out of line. So in we went and listened to a band. There was an entire buffet of free food and plenty of free drinks. We all just sat and talked a bit more and each had a drink. I was going to fetch the drinks and I asked my Dad and the old guy what they wanted. My Dad wanted a beer, I said I was just going to get a pop and the old man said he would take a Coke as well. We drank our drinks and then left. As we left I felt the need to see that the old man continued on his way out the South Gate as we had promised the security staff. As I watched him go my Dad started heading for the North Gate where we were camping. I told my Dad to go ahead without me and I followed the old man out the South Gate. He saw me and seemed nervous. He was now not stumbling or acting drunk at all. He was walking very quickly. I caught up to him and we both used a couple of porta potties along the way. Then he told me that he could make it the rest of the way and I bid him farewell. About an hour ago this guy could barely walk without stumbling and nearly falling over. Now he was walking a straight line and quick. He showed no sign of drunkenness. He moved very well for an older fellow. We didn't eat anything and we only had 1 drink. The whole thing about meeting this man and helping him, and talking to him just seemed unique. Have you ever thought about God coming to you as an actual person incognito? I had that thought. My Dad asked me when I returned why I followed him. I just said that I wanted to make sure he got out the South Gate ok and that he was able to go around the corner and head to the East like he wanted to. I was surely not going to tell my Dad of the quick notion I had. It would have been silly. Or would it? It says in the Bible that when Jesus returns for the 2nd time, that He will come from the East. It was just a thought, but it sure made me ponder quite a bit about a few things.

I arrived back to the campsite and the sky was starting to lighten and soon the sun would be rising. Melissa was there and so was Amy. They were sitting around the fire still and mentioned to me that Melissa had lost her 2 rings. She had taken them off somewhere and could not find them and thought that they were lost. I walked around and tried to help her find them. I was sure they would show up somewhere. But the sun was rising and my attention was turned towards that. I wanted to help her find her rings but something was coming over me to want to watch the sun rise. I would look for the rings in the grass and then look at the horizon. I would look for the rings some more and look at the horizon. And then I saw the sun rise like a gift that morning. It may be a coincidence, it may not. I know in my heart that the signs given to me, which came back for the 2nd time at the Moondance Jam, came from God. That morning while the sun was rising and Mellissa was there standing, unhappy about losing her rings, I knew my life had changed in a great way.

I went to bed, I was tired and I slept until noon. I woke up and most of the Jammers were gone. My Dad and I slowly packed up the canopy and the other things around our site. After a while there were only 2 campers left in the entire North Camping area; ours and another one. As my Dad and I sat and took a break from packing, I looked over and saw 2 people sitting by their camper. They were looking at us, we at them. The Jam was over. We were 2nd to last to leave.