Also, more sad news—my trip was well timed as the day before I left Emily's, my sister-in-law's, father died. I landed in time for the family gathering and the visitation, funeral and wake the next day. Bill Johnston was a REMARKABLE man and dedicated cancer surgeon and father. Tragically, we was diagnosed with Alzheimer's at the young age of 53...16 years ago. Our families are close and losing both fathers within a month of each other has brought us even closer in the shared experience. Bill's siblings and their families flew in for the service and were all absolutely great people and a pleasure to meet—especially the kids. If they've found their way here, shouts to Darby and Max.
On a fun note, there has been a happy surprise— I got this e-mail from Davidson alum and fraternity brother Towner:
Guess where I am!
This was clearly the Pancake Pantry! And Tooner didn't know I was in town. Unfortunately, neither of us had the other's mobile number, so it took some calling among other Fiji's to find out. We did manage to hook up and his hotel is just a skip from Tribe so he joined me and Keith for drinks, dinner and showtunes night. He left this morning, and we got some more quality time in at MOnday's karaoke night, which is hosted by Keith. Towner pulled out a couple of numbers, including House of the Rising Sun and I started slow (I cannot carry a tune.) with the theme song to Three's Company, and closed with Who's Your Daddy? and Being Green.
I have, shall we say, a limited repertoire. (Seriously, me and signing do not get along.) But one does want to participate. I was searching for a song featuring only the three notes I can make, and was happy to come across this track in the catalog.
While I could never hope to perform this, shouts out to the awesome Dean Miller. We were friends though Cousin Clark "back in the day" when he was launching a performing career in addition to a successful songsmithing one. You may be more familiar with some of his dad's work, such as King of the Road.
Speaking of talented songwriters/performers, Ellen Hardcastle batted cleanup at the Ensworth High School talent show Saturday night, which is no small feat. She performed on of her original works for the piano. The baby-faced, adorable and golden-throated Sam Williams sang the penultimate number with the Joyce twins on piano and percussion. He family was sitting in front of us, and at dinner afterward at the Sportsman's, we all thought it was pretty cool to say that Ellen just performed for Hank Williams Jr. While Papa John remains on repeat in our playlists, we are also big fan of the piece she performed for the show, Esther. Here she is playing it at home, recorded with her laptop.
And while we're at it, here's to Papa John.
Okay, enough of this. I've got to hit the store, load up on caffeine and music, and start hauling stuff from the attic to the basement. Y'all take care.
