It's hard to fathom, this sense of loss. I am still bereft, but glad to hear that his passage was peaceful. And I feel so privileged to have been singing with Barry, two weeks ago. Had I not made it to the Getaway this year, I would be inconsolable just now.

I heard the following song on Friday night at the conclusion of an episode of the TV show NUMB3RS. It's by Tom Waits, and it may be that everyone else on the planet knows it already, But I'd never heard it, and it spoke volumes to me:

SHIVER ME TIMBERS
Written by Tom Waits
(The Heart Of Saturday Night, studio version, Elektra/Asylum Records, 1974)
Published by: Fifth Floor Music Inc. (ASCAP), © 1974


I'm leavin' my family, I'm leavin' all my friends
My body's at home, but my heart's in the wind
Where the clouds are like headlines on a new front page sky
My tears are salt water, and the moon's full and high

And I know Martin Eden's gonna be proud of me now
And many before me, who've been called by the sea
To be up in the crow's nest, and singin' my say
Shiver me timbers, cause I'm a-sailin' away

And the fog's liftin', and the sand's shiftin', and I'm driftin' on out
Ol' Captain Ahab, he ain't got nothin' on me now
So swallow me, don't follow me, I'm travellin' alone
Blue water's my daughter, and I'm gonna skip like a stone

So please call my missus, gotta tell her not to cry now
Cause my goodbye is written by the moon in the sky
Hey, and nobody knows me, I can't fathom my stayin'
And shiver me timbers, cause I'm a-sailin' away

And the fog's liftin', and the sand's shiftin', and I'm driftin' on out
And ol' Captain Ahab, he ain't got nothin' on me
So come and swallow me, follow me, I'm travellin' alone
Blue water's my daughter, I'm gonna skip like a stone

And I'm leavin' my family, I'm leavin' all my friends
My body's at home, but my heart's in the wind
Where the clouds are like headlines upon a new front page sky
And shiver me timbers, cause I'm a-sailin' away