Many times I have talked about the Once-Born Gospel Singers (known to most of the members as the Poodle Players) and the members of the group. Sally, our autoharp player and host of our Monday night practices, is in the ICU in a Berkeley hospital, suffering from meningitis. She called me Monday morning asking me to email the other members and tell them that she wasn't feeling too well--it felt like flu but she had had her flu shot and didn't have much fever. I sent messages to all the other members that there would be no practice that night. Today I got an email from our other banjo player who said that on Tuesday night Sally had collapsed and was taken by ambulance to the hospital. Spinal taps revealed the meningitis.

Charlie, our lead guitar player and the other original member of the group, called me tonight and said Sally had been in and out of consciousness, but had seemed better today than yesterday.

I'm going to visit her tomorrow, and also go to her house to walk her dogs--she and Charlie are the poodle owners whose pets inspired the name of the band--Sally just adopted a year-old female who is just becoming comfortable with the Monday nigh practices--she came from a breeder who kept the pups in pens, so "Shady Grove," as Sally named her, had no experience with people other than her breeder and his family. Her other dog, Andy, is from the same breeder: both are very elegant white standard poodles, with the same father, winner of every important dog show in the country.

So the news from the East Bay is pretty scary. We're hoping and praying she comes through--she's a fine musician and a terrific person who's been dealt some crummy cards in life.

--seed