Tag Archives: truth

Separation – – – –

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Wendy did Wednesday, so Jack does Friday – –

My friend Dirk, who engineers my radio shows often talks about the ‘two degrees of separation’ in folk music – everyone has some kind of connection to everyone else!

I experienced this graphically over the last few days – –

Another friend – Randy – owns ‘Oracle Books’ nearby and I hosted a Burns Night there last Saturday celebrating the anniversary of the birth of Scotland’s beloved National poet. I said that I saw significant parallels between the lives of Burns and Bob Dylan – both from rural areas, went to the big city, were lauded by the ‘glitterati’, then dropped when they no longer fitted in! Bob has frequently said his favorite song is ‘Red, Red Rose’ by Burns!

Paul Clayton

I had taken a few books to show, including one called ‘The Merry Muses of Caledonia’ – a very bawdy collection of songs that Burns had heard, written down and was published after his death.

Oracle Books also sells used records and to my surprise Randy messaged me a few days later to say an LP of ‘The Merry Muses’ had just come in to the shop. The performer was Paul Clayton which made another connection. Clayton was a folklorist and singer living in New York when Dylan arrived there in 1961 and they hooked up. Dylan, of course was a sponge who soaked up everything he heard and incorporated lots of that in his songs. Clayton sang a song he’d collected called ‘Who’s gonna tie your Ribbons when I’m gone’ – Dylan used the tune and some lines for ‘Don’t Think Twice. It’s all Right’.

My connection to Dylan? I was at his concert in Edinburgh in 1966 just a few days before the infamous ‘Judas concert’ in Manchester, England.

So maybe you are at the center or maybe you’re just circling around – – –

Me, Bob, Paul, Randy, Dirk, Burns – let the circle be unbroken – –

The Value of Fifty Cents

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Jack is on time for a change – but with sad news – –

We have a number of ‘neighborhood cats’ that have no fixed abode but know they can always find food outside our front door. There are about four or five of them, and they consider yards on both sides of our street as their domain.

That is obviously a problem on a fairly busy street – –

You may have guessed by now – –

A small white and grey kitten showed up a couple of years ago and joined the gang. I christened him 50% because he was half white and half grey. That quickly shortened to 50 Cents and Wendy thought that was appropriate as he seemed to be missing a few brain cells (not the full shilling as I’d say in Scotland)!

He was a regular at our front door and we were eventually able to trap him and get him neutered so there wouldn’t be any 25 Cents. The only picture we have is of him as a kitten in the trap!

On Sunday evening there was knock on our front door which is unusual as most of our friends know to just come in. I went to investigate and a young man with a backpack was there. I recognized him as one of a number of folk who walk past our house regularly and who live in nearby rental apartments.

He explained that he’d just seen a cat get hit by a car in the street outside our house. The car didn’t stop and he went and checked the cat but it was dead. He lifted it off the street onto the sidewalk then came to see if it was ours. What a contrast between the driver who didn’t stop and the young man who could have kept walking but didn’t.

I double checked and, yes, it was 50 Cents and he was dead but it looked as if it must have been instantaneous – a relief at least.

It may seem strange for me to be grieving for the death of a stray cat but I know them all and they have distinct personalities. I did name him as well, so there’s that too!

God bless that thoughtful young man – – –