t’s just not like the Mules to disappear in late summer / early fall.  But sure enough, it’s been a month and a half since the last confirmed Mule-sighting in Marin.  Oh, there have been rumors.  There was something about a golf course in Santa Rosa, but that just turned out to be 2 escaped donkeys found grazing near the 14th tee.  Then there were reports that the Mules had been spotted playing for line dancers at a senior center in Brentwood, but that seems impossible to verify. 
 
The current rumor is that the Mules will be back at the Big Rock Deli this Friday, Oct 11, from 5 to 8pm.  We’re taking this one seriously.  Big Rock’s website appears to corroborate it (though that website also still says “Happy New Year,” so that doesn’t exactly inspire a lot of confidence in its reliability).  But there are signs that the Mules have been practicing, so they could, indeed, be ready to rev up the swampy-tonkin’, kick it back into high gear and rock the house again. 
 
As further evidence, Big Rock employees have been seen unloading trucks, appearing to lay in provisions, as if they were expecting a large crowd.  It was hard to tell, but through our binoculars it appeared to include all the fixings for barbequed ribs, chicken and brisket, plus burritos and fish tacos, not to mention cases of every beer you could think of. 
 
We’re not ones to spread rumors -- so we’ll leave it to you to tell all your friends, neighbors, family members and casual acquaintances. 
 
Big Rock is at 1500 Lucas Valley Road in San Rafael.  You’re definitely going to want to be there Friday night to see if the rumors are true and hopefully catch the Mules before they disappear again.  See y’all there – let’s party till the cows come home!