Summer Creative Groove: Bob Dylan in Allentown

Now that the weather has improved, writing indoors has lost some of its charm. Pennsyl Pointe has about 3.5 acres of grass that needs regular mowing. It's also surrounded by tree-lined roads that make you want to walk until your toes give up. In fact, it's so beautiful here that it's hard to leave Carbon County at all. Coffee on the porch is my idea of an inspirational journey.

However, I did make an exception last week to spend an evening in Allentown with Bob Dylan, John Mellencamp, Willie Nelson -- and 10,696 other people. Stadium concerts never appealed to me much but this one was great. The three craggy legends all played in Coca Cola Park, a pretty nice minor league baseball stadium. The crowd ranged from adorable three year olds to aging rock fans who looked like they'd keep clapping as long as they could stay awake.

We met great people. We sang along with some songs: "I fight authority, authority always wins!" It's tough to sing along with Dylan since he isn't very melodic. Plus he sings his songs any way he wants -- deliberately screwing with your radio memories. It's like listening to someone do a cover of his music. For the faithful he sang "Like a Rolling Stone" and "All Along the Watchtower". He also did a lot of tunes from recent albums like "Love and Theft". I had a great time that night. Once we got back in the car, I fell asleep like the old chunk of granite I seem to have become.