A couple of years ago chantyranger hauled me off to the San Francisco Scottish Fiddler's club where I met Joy MacCarthy. I fell in love with her immediately. This was a woman who spoke her mind clearly, with humor but no malice. She had re-invented herself a dozen times over the years, and was, by the time I got to know her, much more than the sum of her parts. A true original from the top of her curly gray hair to the toes of her tie-dyed sox. I can't stop thinking about an old Delano Bros. song she taught me awhile back...

I hear the sad howlin'
Of coyotes a' prowlin'
They sound so mournful to me
It brings back memories
Of loved ones I cherished
And one that I'm longin' to see...

We miss you Joy pj