Gang,

Sorry for the long silence. I thought life was supposed to slow down at a certain point, but that doesn’t seem to be happening.

My life as a sit-com: This may be an extreme case of TMI, but I have a colonoscopy scheduled for tomorrow. I’ll be staying tonight with a friend in the Boston area and he’s hosting a huge Super Bowl party — lots of food, lots of beer! My instructions are adamant that I can’t have solid food or alcohol all day today. And, the best part — I have to start drinking the dreaded prep poison, 8 oz every 10 minutes, starting precisely at kickoff. You think Tom Brady has challenges — I’ll be doing more running than he does!

On a more cheerful note, there are a bunch of really talented musicians in Kittery Maine who from time to time get together, call themselves the Rushmores, and do an evening of Tom Rush songs — their own arrangements, not copies of my renditions. Last year they hired the Kittery Dance Hall around my birthday to do such an evening, not knowing that I lived very nearby. I crashed the party and we ended up doing a song together at the end of the night.

They’re doing it again this year, on my actual birthday, this Friday, February 8th, and although I no longer live nearby I’m again going to crash. Kittery is just over the river from Portsmouth, NH, where I was born, so it really has some resonance for me. Kittery Dance Hall, 7:30PM, Friday, February 8th — come on by!!

And, in further observance of my birthday, I’m hereby officially announcing my First Annual Farewell Tour. (Why be coy? There are acts out there that have been doing farewell tours for 15 years! And I’ve got a kid in college — can’t quit anytime soon, let’s be realistic.) So all the dates for 365 days starting on 2/8 will be part of the First Annual, then we’ll roll seamlessly into the Second Annual. (I’m thinking of working up a series of commemorative hats: “First Annual Farewell Tour … collect them all!!”)

And I’m hatching yet another harebrained scheme … but more on that in the next newsletter.

That’s all for now — stay warm, try to behave!

Quotes of the Month:

“You know you’re getting old when the candles cost more than the cake.” –– Bob Hope

“To me old age is always ten years older than I am.” –– Bernard Baruch

“I intend to live forever. So far so good.” –– Steven Wright

“How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you were?” –– Satchel Paige