The fingers were tentative as they picked out chords on a scuffed-up 1950 Martin acoustic guitar. The hands that have saddled horses, paddled canoes, and played countless tunes on stages around the country remain strong but not as confident and precise as they were a few months ago.

The powerful baritone voice -- instantly recognizable by fans -- slurs and stutters at times.

The mind that created songs such as "Bears," "Texas Trilogy," and "Man With the Big Hat" is sharp but altered. Between sleep and waking, something was lost. "There's a little part back there that's dead now," he said, tapping the back of his head. "So it's different."

Friends and fans may not even know that a stroke changed Steven Fromholz' life dramatically this spring -- there's been little said of it in the press. Some of those who do know still worry about him, but Fromholz himself doesn't seem troubled. He has no doubt he will return to the stage, the rivers, and the wilderness trails that he loves so much. It will just take time. "My job is to heal," he said in late June. "That's been my job for months now, just to get better. I'm going to get better and better and better. I am, day by day."

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