Back in the Saddle

Returning to the mourning practice and the morning practice too.

Another day in the bonus round dawns! Last week, on Thursday, I wrote:

Since then, I’ve had a few more. May 8-10 saw me frequenting the Ardmore Music Hall and sharing a bit from Philadelphia on “The Passing Show.” It concluded with breakfast at Parc on Rittenhouse, a favorite Philly stop, and then a drive back to DC with my dear wife, Lynn. Life is good even as it is a temp job; a brief flash on the surface of eternity.

One of the high points of the benefit concert series now in its 9th iteration was catching up with Jordan Romney, the son of Wavy Gravy and Jahanara Romney, the former Bonnie Beecher. He’s such a kind and charming person. He was working on a documentary on the event and was kind of enough to do a short interview with me on the sidewalk before departing on the final evening.

The evening opened with KarinaRykman doing her set:

Her energy is contagious and the crowd loved her. The main draw though was Oteil Burbridge and Friends who did two sets both Saturday and Sunday nights. From my perspective though, I was most impressed with Grahame Lesh and Friends who I’ll also be seeing here on August 6 during “The Days Between” at the Hamilton Live.

I share having lost my father in 2024 with Grahame. We don’t know each other but we are both carrying on our late fathers’ legacies in our way. I do it here through “Harrowings” which is the publishing arm of The Harold B Gill Foundation, LLC. So long as I can keep that going, I’ll be able to insure that folks have access not only to his work, but to who he was, so far as I am able to relate it. Grahame too, is doing something for the world in insuring that the work of his late father continues. Given that Phil Lesh was an organ donation recipient and advocated for organ donation at every show, I cannot begin to estimate the good he was able to do in his lifetime.

Seva.org is doing a benefit concert on the day after Wavy Gravy’s 90th birthday. I am hoping that it will sell-out but it looks like there are a lot of tickets still available. Such a good cause, it is. I hope some of you will be inspired to look into Seva’s work.

On his birthday, there will be a screening of the 2009 film, The Wavy Gravy Story: Saint Misbehavin’. That should be worth the price of admission too for those of you in San Francisco as Wavy will be attending himself along with the director of the film, Michelle Esrick:

This will happen at the Presidio Theater. I can’t think of a better way to celebrate a genuinely good human being. In keeping with his ethos, I’m trying to be the best “Hal Gill” I can muster. I believe we all ought to be thinking about the next 700 generations of our species to come. Looking back that far, to our forbears about 21000 years ago, I cannot imagine the odds against any of us being here now. However, over 8 billion of us are. Some of us are trying to “put our good where it will do the most.” We have to think about that and realize that we, collectively, are able to transform the world as never before. Walking in the streets of any city will abundantly confirm this.

So, onward! Let’s get into action. You can help by amplifying my signal through cyberspace. Let’s use our voices to help others be heard.

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