Ok, so I finally got home, the funeral was splendid, with an Apache helicopter flyover to celebrate Duane’s career as a genuine war hero, good times and connections with old friends, one of whom said she was prepared to hold me up if I faltered, as I was unable to contain my emotions before I was to sing. But I made it through, spent some time with folks I hadn’t seen in decades, and headed for Hutton Valley and my little farmette there on the edge of heaven.

It took about a week to recover from the strains of the trip, which was wonderful, but way different from sleeping in your own bed. Then I had to hit the ground running, cleaning up my notes from the trip, seeing to household chores, paying bills, and determining the current answer to a perennial question – “What’s next?”

Since then, I’ve made the corrections to the manuscript of my book of collected radio essays, which I hope will be out by January, re-recorded the audio version of the essays, assembled a collection of those that deal specifically with holidays – everything from Groundhog Day to Yule, with several between, and that CD will go on sale Dec. 1, entitled “An Ozarks Holiday Sampler.” I hope you like it.

-m