The Cowtipi

I haven't written in my blog for months. Mainly because I had no books to review for WVXU and my Raison D'Etre schedule became crazy busy for the fall. However, I really think I have a "braver self" worthy topic. My friend and former band mate, Dan Wilson, has entered a chapter in his life that I really hate. He knows his days are numbered.

It could be argued that we all know our days are numbered, but do we? No doctor has pronounced it to us officially. No one is using the "hospice" word in our presence...yet. But Daniel has had all these hard facts thrust in his face since November, and so have his family and friends.

I spent three recent weekends going to his cabin for Hospice Hoedowns and playing for him at a benefit with most of his other musician friends. It is what we do when we don't know what to do. Show up. Sing. Play guitar. Tell stories.

I had planned to upload some old photos to this site from a couple of summers I spent playing with Dan, my sister Violet, our good friend Vickie, Don Clare, Dan's lifelong friend, and a couple of different guitarists. I let the project slip by because I felt kind of like it would be giving up on Danny's future if everyone was lauding his past. Now, I see that it's all part of a continuum, and that most of it is just about love.

So here are a few shots from a summer cruise aboard a party barge called the Kontiki, that Dan--in typical Dan style--renamed the Cowtipi. It stuck, of course. I loved every minute I spent in a band with Dan'l Wilson. And I will miss him very much.