Halloween Past

Hi,

I thought I’d better pipe up here and let you know all’s well on our side.  We’ve stayed healthy, turned the corner on Halloween, surviving day light savings time, and heading straight into Thanksgiving.  From there it’s a fast downward spiral to Christmas.

We had a fantastic two-week holiday with the whole family on the Gulf of Mexico the middle of October.  Though late in the season, the weather couldn’t have been better with temps in the mid-80s, the water still warm enough to get in and most happily no tropical storms or hurricanes threatened our tranquility.  Like last year we brought almost every scrap of food with us to avoid having to shop for groceries.  There is still so much COVID and Delta variant out there and while we are vax’d…. we’re still being very cautious.  We took a large home right on the Gulf’s water so the beach was our own and we came back sporting deep tropical tans.

Regular readers of these note will know my attachment to our Weber BBQ Kettle and how, in old age it’s been failing.  This past Spring I was concerned about it getting through the summer, which it bravely did.  Sadly, she expired shortly after, the legs coming up through the bottom of the kettle that had slowly been rusting.  There’s not a helluva lot you can purchase these days that will last 45 years.  So, here’s to the Weber.  1976-2021.  R.I.P.  I hope the one that replaces it lasts half that long.

On a serious note of passing, my friend and legendary drummer Ron Tutt died in the middle of October.  We met in L.A.  in the very early ‘70s and played on lots of recording sessions together, including Billy Joel’s Piano Man album.  In 1980 he joined Neil Diamond’s great band and together we logged a lot of miles, concerts as well as more recording sessions before I ended my tenure there in 1987.  A big loss to the world of music, his family and friends.  My love and condolences to his wife Donna and their large and wonderful family.  

On the new album front, please be patient, it is being manufactured but as with so many things at the moment, supply chain issues have slowed production.  Raw material like poly-carbon that go in to the making of CDs are harder to come by, thus slowing things down.  Can’t wait for you to hear this new music though and I’ll let you know as soon as it is available.

Here’s wishing all my American friends a warm and happy Thanksgiving.  I’ll write more soon.  Stay healthy.

Cheers,

Richard