Off to Florida

 I'm leavin' on a jet plane tomorrow for Tampa/Clearwater, Florida, for a few days to visit my friend Donna. We're planning four solid days of good music on the beach at the Clearwater Jazz Holiday, something we've done nearly every year for quite a few - nearly 20 years I think.

This year we'll see Chicago (remember them?), Jane Monheit, Larry Carlton, Average White Band, Tower of Power (Oakland's own!), Brandi Carlile - it's going to be fabulous!

We always have a wonderful relaxing time and lots of fun. It's warm and tropical in Florida this time of year - not too hot like it is in the middle of summer. It's our habit to eat grouper sandwiches or a grouper salad at least once, and the drink of choice is a Cuba Libre (Mt. Gay rum and diet coke with a squeeze of lime - yum).

I'm excited to see Donna again! Isn't it good to have a girls' weekend once in awhile? I think so - gives you a break from regular life and makes you appreciate what you have even more when you get back. Yeah. Buon viaggio to me!!

Wolves, and Dave

Yesterday Wayne and I drove to Sacramento. There was to be a hearing to hear comments from the public on the Fish and Wildlife Bureau's proposal to take the Grey Wolf off the list of endangered species protected by law.

Wayne was going to speak against taking wolves off the list. He has had four wolf-hybrids (wolf-malmute combinations) as part of his family, and he learned to love and respect them for their intelligence, loyalty, and family-oriented pack culture. He is appalled, as most people are, by Montana's, Idaho's, and Wyoming's wholesale slaughter of wolf families.

Anyway, the hearing did not take place because of the government shutdown, but we did take the opportunity to talk with a lot of like-minded people and to learn what we can do to help wolves survive humans. Honestly, when will we learn not to kill everything in front of us? All of today's domestic dogs, a.k.a. man's best friends, are originally descended from wolves, but that only happened about 7000 years ago. In caves from previous eras, wolf remains have been found guarding entrances to rooms and many wolf and human remains have been found together.

Wolves are a beautiful part of wild nature, and they are necessary predators in a healthy eco-system. They have co-existed and shared food with and guarded humans for over 200,000 years. They deserve to have our protection now while they rebuild their numbers after decades of slaughter.

Then today I learned that my old friend Dave VanThull has died. I worked with Dave for many years. He was an early computer genius, innovative and creative and always willing to share his knowledge. He was also a 4 handicap golfer (golfing friends will know that means he was a great golfer!) and he was a good man who loved and cared for his family. The cruel irony is that he died from brain cancer, brilliant man that he was. It doesn't seem right. Or fair. RIP Dave.

Often these days, I hear of friends and people I've known dying. I guess we're in that age group. None of us knows how many days we have left to enjoy. We have to make every day count.