A short podcast for this Christmas Eve. I continue to heal. My wish for you, as we all endure the shocking tragedy unfolding before us, is thatย you can find a way to enjoy a little holiday spirit, and remain safe and protected in the days to come.–ct
Gratitude in a time of nightmare
G

May 2021 bring you continued healing, strength and peace. So many of us are at places in our lives that we never could have imagined. On the bright side, it is a new adventure. Prayers for a complete recovery. ๐๐๐
Dear Cary,
Gratitude is a good, reliable friend, shining a light through darkness. Iโm glad to hear you are healing, and grateful to see your words again.
Much love to you and Norma.
Archana
Thank you, Archana, indeed, a light through the darkness. I am healing slowly, but in addition to gratitude, growing older has given me a measure of much-needed patience as well.
Just what I needed on this Christmas morning Cary.
Though I’ve not been through anything like your recent health crisis, there have been may times I too could have been whisked off this planet. So I arose this morning…grateful.
And I’m grateful that you’re still with us.
I hope to see you again, sooner rather than later my friend.
Mark
Thanks Mark, we have skirted death and danger like wise fools for years, and I’m glad most of us are still here to laugh about it. I long to come to Melrose and chill, and play music, and tell stories, once the gods permit. Ciao my friend!
Hi Cary,
Thank you for your heartfelt message. I’m grateful for being alive and spending Christmastime with the swellest family in the world. We’re in California but it is grey and drizzly to remind us of those who are not so hella lucky. All the best to you and yours, now and in the sparkling, hopeful new year!
Marilyn Alan
My Christmas wish to you and Norma is Health & Joy!
Love you dearly,
Diane
Diane such a dear friend, thanks for your wishes, we are doing OK, though it would be nice to be able to travel outside our town … and for me, it would be nice to get walking again. Piano, piano, it’ll all come back.
Merry Christmas Cary. Warmest wishes for a wonderful day for you and your wife!
I enjoy your work. Thank-you for your thoughtful response to an often unthoughtful world. Hope you heal quickly.
I’m feeling grateful, too. Thanks for this note, Cary. Glad you’re still kicking and appreciate your generosity in sharing your perspective, writing and voice with us all.
Hi Tim, thanks for the note, our town awaits your return … once life returns to something like normal …
I’m glad you’re alive and still on the planet Cary. Glad I am too.
Love you.
Jan
Ditto ditto ditto. Ciao!
Sending best wishes to you both feom Copenhagen and looking forward to when we meet again in your fair city my friend.
YEs, Brett, we have much music and songwriting to do. Stuff will get normal again eventually! It has to!
All my best, Cary. Sending you healing vibes from California. claire
I listened to your recording on gratitude a couple of times, Cary.
It’s missing something – an acknowledgement that people took a chance on you, offered you opportunities BECAUSE YOU WERE GOOD, or in pantone speak, worth it.
You’re on the mend. This is also very good. Your voice sounds like you’re recovering from a stay in intensive care. A little bird needing feeding (maybe not worms!) and an extra comfortable nest. Peer over the side occasionally if you like. The world will still be turning and there for when you feel more able to fly. In the meantime, do sick well.
It’s late afternoon here in Ireland, but it’s dark already. Three days since the winter solstice, eight minutes of light added to the day so far. By summer the days will be longer and much brighter. Just like you.
Take care, mind yourself, eat your worms! extra feather your nest! Happy Christmas!
Thank you, Sinead, that’s very sweet. I try not to diminish my gifts, but recognize how long one can wait in the wings for a chance to sing. So I say to all those others waiting in the wings for their chance to sing: Be ready when that time comes! Keep working on your craft! Stay healthy! Be ready to step into the role! It’s the part you can’t control–when opportunity opens.
But the real reason I’m saying thank you is for that image of me as the little birdy looking out over the edge of the nest. That’s so sweet! Thank you! Merry Xmas
Blessings for the new year, Cary and Norma! Where there is life–and imagination–there is hope.
Adrian
Cary, all good wishes to you for your good health. And also to Norma
We haven’t called, wanting to let you rest and recuperate but will be in touch and see you on the other side of this setback.
OK Neighbor, appreciate the courtesy, but do not hesitate to call if you’d like the latest news. I am sequestered but Norma ventures out now and then …
Thank you so much, Cary. I’m grateful that our paths crossed in that infinitesimal way they did through our mutual friend Tom Fowler, who planted a seed, then left us to our own devices. I am curious and admiring of what you and Norma are doing in Italy. All the best to you both. Karen
Hello Karen, I am also grateful for that. Tom’s paintings hang all over our little house here and I am therefore caused to think of him often. Especially when I myself am faced with a life/death situation … from which I expect a full recovery — or I want my money back! (The healthcare is 100% free.) Which also reminds me of our friend Tom Fowler’s death: Had he not been a poor artist concerned about the costs of a hospital visit, he might be with us today! So one big reason we moved to Europe is because we believe that healthcare is a right, not a privilege. And it has turned out to be so here in Italy.
I have written a lot about our life here, but published little … our main desire in 2015 was to get out of SF, out of the US, to live in a simpler way.