Uncle John’s Log & Co.

— Over nine thousand objects large enough to be tracked and catalogued? To a galactic neighbor, our planet must look like one of those Kentucky back-road junk heaps.

— Many, many years ago, when we were first allowed to operate the Sony reel-to-reel recorder, we taped numerous television theme songs and incidental music from our favorite shows. We became so familiar with the tape that each musical introduction seemed a natural part of the one to follow. We committed to memory lyrics and melodies, including those from obscure, ill-fated shows that we never even watched. Years later, Mombo surprised me by transferring that strange collection to audio cassette. To this day I occasionally pop in a tape when driving alone and I must admit that very few things in my life, including pop music contemporary to the time, will provide me such a visceral connection to my quirky adolescence. Love on a Rooftop, Mr. Terrific, The Shady Rest, Jean Gaston-Andre, Judd for the Defense, T.H.E. Cat, David Vincent, Rango, The New Number Two… I guess you had to be there. (“Ask the butler to lend you a buck, my dear!“)

— Before Mack went back into the hospital he was kind enough to look at my old Conn C-Melody saxophone (the one that used to belong to Uncle Luke), and became excited about taking it with him to Lexington for a discussion with his sax repairman. Turns out it needs very little attention to be perfectly playable, even after 25 years of storage. He had a setback in his healing not too long after that, but not before I had the opportunity to shoot his combo when they played at the open house for the new Community Arts Center in downtown Danville. I made a montage for myself and all of his friends as a focus for our positive thoughts and prayers for recovery.