I decided as soon as I settled in from my motorcycle ride with the Sons of Kauai today that I’d write something about the passing of 2018. The day was spectacular and the trades definitely made their presence felt. I always pay attention to my music and I was accompanied by the likes of Prince, Chet Baker, Amy Winehouse, Matisyahu, Imagine Dragons and on and on. The ride down from Kokee was a motorized, magic carpet ride and when Tom Waits whiskey gargled Waltzing Matilda, I knew it was the sign I needed to be here, now.

Here I am, waltzing my way into your hearts yet again.

I can’t say I have ever looked back over a year and felt any regret. My perspective has changed with time and keeps changing in ways I could never have imagined before right now. Let’s assume most of you are younger than I am. Think about all the changes you have gone through in your life and understand the story of your past has grown with you. When I look back at 73, I’ve got a whole lot to look back upon. I’ve got great stories I couldn’t have imagined before they occurred.

I guess from my vantage point, looking backward on a seemingly endless landscape of experiences requires less imagination than looking ahead and we’re gonna save that thought for next time.

There is no fucken way I am going to get any quicker in mind or body and moments increasingly feel like gifts, rather than entitlements. This year has felt like an elbow in the road, forcing a direction change, a recalibration of my Life GPS. The destination can’t ever change, but getting there in style seems to matter more now.

Forgive me, it’s Pavarotti and time for me to cry……………………….I have written about my father dying when I was quite young. I have not written about my clear memories of him, sitting in the club chair in the living room, totally lost in the Sunday national radio cast of NY’s Metropolitan Opera. Before Gospel, before Blues, before Jazz, before Rock and before Rap, there was Opera.

If you say you truly love music, I am not sure how you draw lines as to what is and what isn’t. Listen, I saw The Beatles at Shea Stadium. I have been privileged to hear today’s Classic Rock when it had never been heard before. Back then, it held out the wonderful idea of Peace and Love. It may sound crazy to you today, but I swear to God it couldn’t have been more sincere for so many. There were many firsts, not a time for copies, because it was without precedent.

Fast forwarding to the day before the end of 2018, I’d have to say this past year for me has been about continuing to inhabit more and more of myself. I swear I’m not harping on age as some awful life sentence, but I’d have to be a moron to ignore the numbers. I remember being shocked at how my body seemed to instinctively overreact to walking on a muddy, root ridden trail, somewhere in the island’s interior. I very tentatively walked on the trail, taking way too much time. It’s not how I remember high stepping in the National Forests throughout the Southwest, where I lived for many years. You dance with time, but you can’t fight it.

What I’ve been trying to say is this year has been one of the best i can ever recall. Although, I have never had a year, wanting a refund. All I feel is gratitude for the privilege of being alive in 2018.

Well, I’ve got nothing to say after that.