The Sound Of Distant Drums! or Corky Laing!

Today has been another great day. I called my brother Ronnie around 7:45 to wish him a Happy Birthday and then I started cooking breakfast for Tony, so it would be ready to eat when he came home from drinking coffee with his friends at the Old Timer, in Medina.

I called Kinky around 9:15 to let him know that I would be outside cleaning dog pens if  he and the Canadian television crew wanted to come over early to film him over here. Then I went outside to start gathering the gifts left for me by our dogs.

Twenty minutes later Kinky and his business partner Brian Kanof, our friend and the professional photographer out of El Paso and the friendly Canadian news team arrived, to shoot Kinky over here and it was a lot of fun, because I love every Canadian that I have ever met.

While the camera crew set up their cameras Kinky introduced Tony and me to Ken, the interviewer and Dan and then I told them about it being "Canada Week" out here. "A week ago Sunday, my girlfriend Carol came over with Maggie, her Canadian horse loving buddy and we instantly fell in love with her. Then last Thursday we flew Kia, one of our rescued dogs, up to Toronto, to live with our good friend Fay and her family and their dog Kris Kristofferson, that they also adopted from us many years ago. And now y'all are here. It's so amazing to me and..."

Ken's thirty minute interview with Kinky, right outside of our front yard, was so much fun to watch, because Ken had really done his homework on Kinky and he had some good questions to ask Kink.

There was one funny thing about the interesting interview and it was the background noise that could not be controlled and it wasn't from our dogs barking, because they were very quiet, because they are used to camera crews coming out and shooting Kinky.

The loud, sometimes un-rhythmic noise came from drums—echoing over here from Echo Hill's camp for children. Some young man was over there drumming to a different beat and every time that I would look over at Tony or Brian and they would smile back at me I would start quietly laughing, as Kinky and Ken pretended not to hear the sound of distant drums beating by a boy dreaming of being the next Ringo or Corky Laing.

When the interview ended Brian told us that he had a "secret" surprise for Tony and me and then he gave us a Kinky Friedman Man In Black Tequila shot glass and two, black t-shirts, hot off of the press, because on July 30th Kinky and Brian will make their big announcement in San Antonio, when their four varieties of Kinky Friedman's Man In Black Tequila officially goes public and is for sell with a portion of the profits benefiting our Utopia Animal Rescue Ranch! And before leaving to go back over to the Lodge, Brian invited us to come over, later on in the day, to sample some of their fine Tequila.

The front of the t-shirt

The back of the t-shirt.

"Brian, thank you very much, Tony can, but I can't because I swore off drinking Tequila years ago, when I was nineteen years old, when I lived up in Crested Butte, Colorado...." After I had told him about being a waitress at the Wooden Nickel and throwing up on a customer's ski sweater, who had ordered some "hot chili" he totally understood. Then he drove away.

This afternoon we met Brian and Kinky in Kerrville for lunch and it was really fun. We talked about his Australian tour, their Tequila, some more about Gus getting a job and Kia being adopted by Fay and the weather, our new band L—BeNT and Husky Bound, etc. And before leaving the restaurant we decided to all go to Wolfmueller's Books to see Sandy and Jon. Then we took off in the same direction.

Tony and I were the first to walk into Wolfmueller's Books and we were instantly greeted by Jon, who was sitting behind the counter—reading my blog—which caused me to chuckle, because he once told me long ago that he reads it everyday and this proved it. Then Kinky and Brian entered their bookstore. "Hi, Jon. Where's Sandy?" Kinky asked.

"She's not here right now, Kinky," Jon answered. "How was your tour?" After a fun visit with them Tony and I left to go pick up George Clooney and Candace Bergen at Hoegemeyer Animal Clinic and then we came home.

When we got home, after we had put the cute pups back into their pen, I checked my e-mail and I want to share Fay's note to me about Kia, because it has literally made my day. Fay wrote:

"Hi Nance,

Thought you'd like an update. We've taken to calling her Wee Lassie, more of a term of endearment than a name, but it seems to be sticking LOL She had a GREAT weekend. We had her at a pool party on Saturday and on Sunday she hung out when we were doing gardening and cleaning. She has settled in so well and is as good as gold. She's so cheery and happy we just love her so much. 

She came to work with me today and met Frank, the Boston Terrier/French bulldog mix. They played and got along great so that's awesome. Kris is so happy she's around, you were right that he would fall in love with her.

She has her pink princess blanket and dishes in my office and she's just chillin'. I am able to leave my office to go do things and shut the door and she's just fine. I have a dog gate that I put up when I'm in the office so we can keep the door open. She's sooo sweet and gentle, everyone here can't believe I've only had her since last Thursday.

I'll keep you posted, hope you have a good week. Glad to read you got rain & hope you get more!

F. xo"

Then I shot this note back to Fay.

"Hi Fay. Your news has made my day. I am so glad that y'all adopted Kia. She is one of the luckiest dogs in the world. Thank you so much for the update and please tell Wee Lassie (I like that name, too.) and Kris that, "Nancy asked me to tell y'all that she loves y'all and that she is so happy for y'all." Peace and Love, Nancy"

And that is about it for today and I am not going to tell you if later today Tony sampled Kinky and Brian's "Kinky Friedman's Man In Black Tequila" or how much he drank. (Even though T. told me later, "That was the best tasting Tequila that I have ever had.") Happy Birthday Ronnie!

Y'all have a great evening and please remember to keep praying for rain for us!

youtube.com/redheadTR

Last night, I received a phone call from a dear friend of ours, Brian, because I had sent him an e, earlier in the day—wishing him a happy birthday and a happy turkey day. When Brian got my e, he phoned me on his new iPhone, from a remote location in Oregon, where he was attending a private bonfire with his sister, Marleen, and their nephew! He told me that the sun was setting, it was starting to snow, and watching the bonfire with the beautiful, majestic mountains surrounding them—was totally awesome! I had a nice visit with him and Marleen, and invited them to come down to see Kinky, Tony and me—as soon as possible! FYI: Brian is now 52 years old!

This morning was enjoyable, because we had several friends and neighbors come out to visit us, and it was a lot of fun visiting with them, and catching up with their latest news. To me, that’s what makes the holidays so special!

Around, 4:00 this afternoon, Tony and I went to Wolfmueller’s Books, so I could purchase a few more of my books, but more importantly, we went because we wanted to laugh, and we knew that Sandy, Jon and Mary Jo—could make that happen! And, they did!

When we entered their store, crowded with customers, I saw John standing on a tall ladder, in the middle of the store—trying to hang himself from the ceiling—in broad daylight!

“Hi, Cousin Nancy and Tony. How are y’all?” Jon said, calmly, from up above.

“Jon, what are you doing up there?” I asked. “Are you trying to hang yourself?”

“No,” Jon answered. “I’m just hanging up our Christmas decorations.”

“It’s his job,” Mary Jo said, from behind the counter. “Sandy and I won’t get on ladders.”

Sandy then came out of their office, waved at us, and then helped a customer find a book, before joining us.

The five of us had a fairly short visit, but as always—it was fun and filled with laughter. Hating to leave great company, but knowing that we needed to get back to the rescue ranch—we said our goodbyes and drove back to the ranch.

After checking the answering machine for new messages, I sat down at the kitchen table, and checked my e-mail. I had one new message, and it was from our dear and multi-talented friend—Taffi Rosen, who Kinky had introduced us to—years ago!

Besides being a great friend to all of us, Taffi Rosen is an award winning photographer, Television Producer, and Director. Her photography and video work has taken her around the world to capture the arts for “Bravo” and “Biography Canada”! Her work is flawless!

After her last visit to the ranch, she sent Tony and me, a collection of some of the finest photography that we have ever seen of—chickens! And, they are so beautiful, Tony and I have them safely locked up, in our safety deposit box at our bank!

Taffi had written to let us know that she has and is still working on a series for “Bravo! Canada” and “Biography” called, “In The Mind Of” about people, who are outstanding in their various careers, such as actors, politicians, spiritual leaders, TV personalities, musicians, and (this one is my favorite) authors, etc.!

So, I went to her: youtube.com/redheadTR and started watching with amazement! The videos are about fantastic people, that I have never heard of (but, that doesn’t mean a whole lot) that are famous and doing incredibly great work!

Now, I must confess that I do know one of the people in Taffi’s video, “Corky Laing, Bla, Bla, Bla.” Corky is a dear, famous friend of Kinky’s and mine, and I would bet, that you have heard of him! He’s the incredible drummer for “Mountain,” and if that doesn’t ring a bell, how about—he wrote and plays in the song, “Mississippi Queen!”

Taffi’s videos that I watched, were on Gordie Brown, Evan Levy, and Corky’s. I loved them all, and learned a lot, and I hope all of y’all will check them out.

I’ll be giving a test tomorrow.