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• ….WITH LOTS TO DO!

Sept 13/15

In the coming days after the tour, we began to focus on other things. For me, it was

mainly to get what work done on Charlane that I thought we needed to prioritize. That

meant getting a fence built around our duck pond (to keep out the deer and hogs after

we plant it); site prepping some of the Bullard Tract so we could get some of it planted

this coming season; mowing our woods roads; taking down any dead trees that we

wanted to saw up; working with Emmitt Shurling on various projects on our buildings;

planning for staining our horse pasture fences; spraying herbicide in several areas at

Charlane and several other projects. It also meant getting our schedule together for the

coming months. I managed to book some good work. Karl Denson had invited me to do

two gigs with him...one at the Capitol Theater in Port Chester, NY on Sept 11 and the

next day at the Lockin’ Festival. Both of these would be for Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe

(with special guest Chuck Leavell). Widespread Panic was also to play Lockin’ and

eventually asked me to join in on their set with Jimmy Cliff as a special guest the same

night of Karl’s gig.

I also booked several speeches...the first would be on Sept 21 for the US Industrial

Pellet Assn. in Miami. After that, on Sept 24 I would keynote for the Colorado Open

Lands Trust in Denver. Then Oct 6 in Lake Tahoe for SFI (Sustainable Forestry Initiate).

I also booked a conference called Fortune Brainstorm E (for “energy) in Austin, Tx. I will

play a short 30 min set with he band (Randall Bramblett Band) and then Joel Babbit and

I will be interviewed on stage by Brian Dumaine, the main moderator of the conference.

That would focus on our work with the Mother Nature Network. Oct 1 would be a 45

minute solo gig at the Idle Hour Country Club. Buck Williams also booked me a show

with Randall and band at Chastain Park in Atlanta on Oct 16. All these speeches and

music appearances would be nice lucrative income for me, helping us to get through

until our quail season starts in late October. Also....since Ashley is pregnant, Rose Lane

and I decided we would fly up to see her and Peter for a few days in Manchester right

after the Chastain show. So there would be plenty to keep us busy.

Relaxing In Rosie World

Rose Lane has been diligently working to book our quail hunts for our various

clients....the Stones had asked us to keep late Jan-end of March on hold as a possible

South American tour...so we would prioritize our most important clients to come before

late Jan. Finally, around Sept 8 or so, we got word that the tour is on. So now at least

we know the parameters and can work with more accuracy on dates. We will be leaving

around Jan 18 or so....which is just after Ashley’s due date...so I’m just hoping that she

will have that baby when I’m here!

The shows with Karl Denson went really well. The Capitol was not sold out...maybe

about 60%, but it was a fun gig. My partner in IROCKU, Howard Citron, brought a group

to the show there, and it was good to see him. The Lockin’ Festival with Karl also went

well, although there were some sound problems with the monitor system. I hung around

to play with Widespread Panic with Jimmy Cliff as a special guest. We did 6 songs with him.

 

The Harder They Come D

Many Rivers to Cross F

You Can Get It If You Really Want D

Sitting in Limbo D

Guns of Brixton (Gm)

I Can See Clearly Now D

I also did ”Stone Me“ with Widespread before before Jimmy came on. There was quite a

crowd attending...maybe 20K or so. Other artists on the bill included Derek Trucks and

Susan Tedeschi; Robert Plant; The Jayhawks; Gov’t Mule and others.

Lena Rosaline Denson White with Rose Lane

With all this on the books, another ongoing focus had been on Rose Lane and Alton's

mother. Her health, both mental and physical, had been in decline for a good year or so.

By this time, she was really in bad shape. So much so that we had Hospice

involved...they helped to get her a nurse that would check on her most every day in her

home...she was basically confined to a hospital bed that they had provided. Hospice also

assigned a Doctor to her....although it was the nurse and the sitters that were with her

every day. Rose Lane and Alton both spent as much time as they could with her, but she

had become unresponsive by early to mid September...and she passed away the morning

of Sept. 17 at age 92. She fought the good fight, but it had just become too much and she

finally let go. Along with the grief of losing her, there was relief in knowing her journey

had come to an end. The service for her was well attended and we laid her to rest in the

cemetery of New Richland Baptist Church where we laid her husband, Al, so many

decades ago...in '72, I believe. In the following days, weeks and months there would be

much for Rosie and Alton to deal with...the Estate, deciding where some of the furniture

and other belongings would go, Probating the Will....all of that. Rose Lane inherited

around 400 or so acres in a couple of different tracts, which we will attend to probably

next year in terms of thinning some timber. Alton inherited her house and maybe double

the land...but all of that had been determined many years ago so they both knew the

situation. Alton and Rose Lane both handled the whole event with grace, love and

togetherness. Time passages...

The trip to Manchester was most enjoyable...a nice getaway, and the leaves were just

hitting peak colors. We had a nice stay with Ash and Peter...helped them put together a

new baby bed and some other furniture in the house. Their house is pretty much done,

with some things still to be finished...but the focus was definitely on the upcoming birth

(she is due Jan 15) and getting the baby room in order.

Upon our return, I set my mind mostly to Charlane hunts, a timber thinning that we had

going on on around 100 acres or so, and the site prepping of the Bullard Tract that we

would plant about 70 acres of Longleaf Pine on. All of that went really well....until I had

a most unfortunate accident. I was doing some final mowing of the tract when my John

Deere 4240 caught on fire. I was by myself and there was no fire extinguisher on the

tractor. Within about 3 minutes it began to flame up significantly and within 6 or 7

The Burning Tractor

• minutes there was nothing to be done. Chris Gordy, who was supervising the actual

planting, was driving by and ran to try and help...as did Alton, who was also passing by. I

had called Hal Hamilton quickly, and he got there as soon as he could with one of my

four wheelers with a water tank on it...and Alton had a fire extinguisher. We managed to

save three of the tires, but that was about it. A total loss....and it was not insured. Oh

well...I loved that tractor...it was my real workhorse. 110 horsepower, and very tough. I

had just bought a new starter for it to the tune of $350 or so...and only a couple of months

prior had bought a new rear tire for it. So now I have to see what can be salvaged from it

and just move on. I don't know if I'll have the time and money to buy another similar

tractor before our upcoming South American tour...probably not. But I'll deal with it as

best I can.

Our hunts have gone really well so far...fun repeat clients for the most part, but one or

two new ones...with everyone enjoying their experience, and I expect most of them will

continue to patronize us in the coming years. Our staff have it down quite well now and

things have run very smoothly. We've also managed to get some hunts on the books while

we will be gone....which is good as it will keep our staff busy and create some income.

I got a call from my friend Warren Haynes in late Nov to invite me to be a special guest

with his band Gov't Mule in NY at the Beacon Theater on New Years Eve...and I

accepted. Not long after, Buck Williams called to say that a couple of days before that,

Widespread Panic would invite me to guest with them at the Fox Theater in Atlanta. So

that worked out nicely and I booked both gigs. I was given a somewhat surprising and

heartwarming reception at the Fox by the Widespread fans...and they also gave me a very

strong reaction after every tune...especially ”Dead Flowers“ and ”Jessica“. Very cool.

The Mule gig also went well....but not without some shaky moments. For one thing, some

of the tempos were, in my opinion, way too fast, making it difficult to settle into a

groove. The ”theme“ of the evening was Watkins Glen...so Warren did 3 sets...one of

Grateful Dead tunes, one of songs from The Band (neither of which I played on) and then

the closing set of Allman Brothers songs. We didn’t start until midnight...making for a

very late night. But at the end of the day, it went fine and the fans seemed to enjoy it. The

players were all the Mule band, Jack Pearson added on guitar, Paul Riddle and Sean

Pelton (from SNL band) on drums.

While in NY, I took a minute to call Bernard Fowler to ask him who would replace Lisa

Fischer on our upcoming South American tour with the Stones. He told me a girl named

Sasha Allan. I googled her up, and she seems to be very talented, and she is quite

attractive...so I’m sure she will do fine.

On Thanksgiving, we had all the family with us for a couple of days. Amy asked us to

keep the boys for two days before she and Steve would get there, which was a real treat.

Ashley and Peter had gone to stay a couple of days in our Savannah house before driving

over to spend Thanksgiving with us. So in the end we had all the family together, at least

for a short time. Peter and I managed to get a little half day hunt in, which was good

fun....and we all had a wonderful time.

For Christmas, since Rosaline had passed away and the Bransfords would be spending it

at their place...and with Ashley too pregnant to travel, we decided to spend it with just

Rosie and me in Savannah. A nice little 5 days of just us. We had a party on the 23rd with

some friends we have made there and some new folks that we had not met. That went

great. The only sort of weird thing was the weather...80 degrees most every day....and that

has been the case all winter. So far we are on track to have the warmest winter on record.

But no mind...it was kinda nice in a way.

So today is New Year’s Day. Having finished the Mule set at 2:30am, Rosie and I had a

couple of drinks at the bar of the Americatania Hotel where we were staying...and got to

our room just after 3am. The car to take us to the Newark airport arrived at 10:30 and we

departed about 15 minutes after that. Flight was on time, and as I write this we are 30K

feet up in the air with an hour and a half to go before we land. Then it will be the drive

home and we should get there around 6pm. We have a couple of days before the hunts

crank up again...and from there we have hunts every day until we leave to go up to

Manchester to hopefully be with Ashley and Peter when the baby comes. We leave Jan

13. With all of the stress I’m feeling at the moment...burned up tractor, being dissed by

the Stones and always worrying about money...the thought of a new grandchild gives me

something to look forward to. I keep telling myself to rise above it all and to keep things

in perspective....and to keep the faith that things will go as they should....and for the

better.

Indeed the hunts we had on the books went really well. Roger Austin’s group...Pilgram’s

Pride, had a great hunt with us as did Don Whyte’s group before him. His friend, Bing

Kearney, was actually the host of the group for everyone. Bing owns a couple of big

outdoor stores called Shooter’s World down in Florida...as well as a construction

company that does road building and such. All really great guys and we enjoyed having

them.

Rose Lane and I left on Jan 13 for Manchester. It was so great to see Ashley and Peter. Ash was ”full of baby“ and ready to give birth...but she didn’t do so on the due date of the 15th. We spent time with them at their house, and went out with Ashley a time or two to do errands. It was cold, cold in Manch, and it snowed while we were there. Quite beautiful to look at, but makes driving a bit of a challenge. Still, we had no problem getting around. We had dinner at a Greek restaurant with the four of us one night...Ash and Peter were friends with the owners. At the end of the dinner, the woman owner predicted they would have a girl...as it turned out, she was right!

Despina Rose Tziros (Precious)

So on the morning of the day before I was to leave, the 16th, Ashley went into labor. We all expected the baby would come within a few hours, but as it turned out she had a 27 hour labor...and had the baby around 5:30am on the 17th. Peter called us several times during the process, and finally around 7 or 8am he called us to tell us it was indeed a girl...Despina Rose Tziros. We made our way to the hospital by mid morning. So great that she came while I was there....I had about 5 hours or so before I had to leave for the Boston airport to head to LA for rehearsals.

The little gal was just beautiful, and we were all elated. I held her as long as I could, finally having to go back to the house to pack and head out. Rose Lane would stay there for another week to help out, and I had a 3:30pm pickup from their house.