I visited NYC last week and, while walking down St. Marks, this song of mine came back into my mind. I checked my computer when I returned home and found this live version sitting in my files. I played one set at Sidewalk while in town, and if I had done this song it would have sounded like this. That was a great night by the way. It was wonderful seeing so many members of the Fan Club there, listening to old friends play before me, and being joined on stage by various artists through out the evening.

Times are changing, friends have died, friends now have children of their own. NYC, as always, has joints shutting down and new ones opening. Ageing is strange, and stranger still for someone like myself who doesn't believe in linear time. Then, what's going on? Lately, I've been simply calling it a process, an unfolding, and trying to find my way in it.

I've noticed though that part of being where I am now in my life, and seeing this in my contemporaries, is that when you live for a while, you're going to face really hard struggles, you're going to feel overwhelmed, you're going to have pain and loss that you didn't think possible. And that's when you'll truly learn and cherish what acceptance means, how wisdom is acquired, how compassion is gained, and hopefully you'll come through the other side and be one of those enhanced souls where kindness, charity, and love are so natural because you've simply been drained of everything else. You've surrendered to life, accepted it's pain so that you can also experience it's beauty, love, healing and wonder.

I may be thinning, I may have a whole lot more hardship, anxiety, and fear ahead of me, but I'm not alone in that and together, through our art, our creativity, our simple being, we can express and celebrate the process, until our next spin at the wheel.

Wishing you all a wondrous winter.

Love
Lach