Show #239

Hello Friends of the Garden,

Entry level for coffee snobs!

Man, I was up early this morning! It was dark out and the newspaper was right where it always is, under my car! I started a fire in my awesome homemade fire-pit and and fired up the Nespresso machine! I sped through the newspaper and and a second cup of Brazilian coffee. The radio droned on as the weekend routine returned, going slow on a wet gray morning and seeking inspiration. The fire crackled away radiating heat from the steel tub, nice!

Finally, after years of waiting!
Red Rocks!

The coffee was perfect! My Nespresso machine was one of the best gifts my wife has ever given me! The best gift of course was four days of Widespread Panic at Red Rocks!  It's true what all those "spread-heads" say, you haven't really seen Panic until you've seen them at Red Rocks! The fire and coffee and radio made my mind wander. 

Real Red Rocks at night!

I suppose the only down side to doing the radio show has been that we haven't travelled to Europe in a while. I'm thinking about my Swiss friends and the experience I've had with them for many years now! I wouldn't be drinking the coffee I am now if it wasn't for them. The first Nespresso machine I ever saw was at my friend Urs and Lucia's home in Zug.

Initially it was Urs and Patrick I met years ago. They were learning to speak English in San Francisco at some private school. Urs met my sister first while she was living in S.F.. Neither of them were married then. Now both of them are married and have children that are growing up rapidly. 

This car sucks!

Urs and my sister had gone to Gilroy and her crappy Renault car broke down. She called me in Fresno and my brother and I took off to rescue her. Urs was shocked that we would travel such a distance to help. David and I got her going enough to limp back to the "City" and we shook hands and turned around to go home. That was the first time I met what would become a dear friend!

Me and Urs in Nice sweating!

I've always felt a strange but wonderful feeling about having such a good friend that lives on another continent! I can speak from experience here that it is possible to have a real friendship even with distance and location as extreme obstacles. I have met Urs in Hamburg, Nice, Milan, Geneva and Amsterdam. Urs and Patrick have been back to visit several times as well. 

Each subsequent time we get together it feels more and more like there was no space in time between visits. It was also nice to get to be an ambassador of sorts and be the "cool" American as opposed to the annoying one! I'm glad to say that Urs and Patrick were never embarrassed by me and all their friends wanted to engage me in conversation. Fun!

The best photo I've ever
taken! Paris, France.

Robin and I got to do things we wouldn't have had the opportunity to do because of Urs and Patrick. We saw DaVinci's "Last Supper" together. We saw Buddy Guy with Billy Gibbons in Montreaux (a whole different story!)! We have done so many, many things, lifetime memories! The best part is that we still stay in touch and we still plan on meeting up with each other at some point in time!

So true! 

I'm a blessed man! I'm so fortunate to have friends, good friends all over the world and so many here at home. In fact some of my friends here are planning to see Robert Earl Keen together. More fun, more memories! Hey why don't you go with me?

Here's Show #239! Other than being influenced by the new Rolling Stones CD I can't say what I was thinking. I guess just I let my mind go where it lead me. It all made perfect sense at the time. I wanted to play some stuff that made me feel good, purely selfishness! I know it's not much of a description but, by now you should have an idea of what to expect! Trust me, you'll like it, it likes you (it just came out, sorry)!

WooHoo! We're gonna go see Robert Earl together Jerry and Robin and a whole bunch of other friends! So cool! Thanks you two!

Thanks to all of you! Thanks for the phone calls too especially you Tony, that was nice! I love hearing from you guys! If you can think of going to the website and contributing even the smallest amount. I rarely ever ask but, it sure would help!

Peace and love,

Mike