I’m sitting here admiring the grey clouds and waiting for a pain pill to kick in. Waiting for the gin to hit me, so to speak. God I love that song. I want to have a Cynthia tribute band that just plays all the songs I like. Not sure who will be in this band though. Perhaps some of the members of my imaginary Herb Alpert tribute band could be in it.
We just got back from an appointment at the pain clinic. The doctor was fine, a tad robotic. Is it just spine people? Oh, she told me the surgeon that referred me (did I tell you that in the middle of my consult with him he kind of waved his hand at me and asked, “High school, college?” I stared at him, a bit confused at the question, then told him I had a Master’s degree. He nodded and kept talking. Come on, that’s just fucking weird) is no longer with Carle. I told her that was fine, that I wasn’t a fan. She told me she was just trying to keep me updated. She also didn’t seem to get any of my quips. Good Lord, I’m becoming Ernie. She told me I’m overweight (uh, really?) and that 2-3 glasses of wine at night is way too much. I don’t see this doctor and I bonding any time soon. Anyway, they’re going to try shots in my back again, we shall see. Eh.
O.K., let’s back up. The Fourth of July seems like weeks ago. Time is a very strange actor for me these days. Tuesday Ernie wasn’t feeling great but I knew that going out to the Rose Bowl to see Sarah Borges with our beloved Eric Ambel would do us good despite the early day following. We got tickets for Owen and Trinity too as I knew that would keep us from wimping out. Owen was SO excited. He grinned through the whole show, hitting his Dad’s shoulder periodically. He got that grinning-like-an-idiot-when-the-music-is-good thing from me I am proud to say.
Sarah was absolutely great. We really loved her the last time we saw her there. And honestly, you couldn’t really have a better band: Eric Ambel, Keith Voegele (Bottle Rockets) and we didn’t know the drummer, Kenny Soule, but MAN, he was great. I was anxious about getting a table so Ward was kind enough to reserve one for us. It was such a relief not to worry about it. When we sat down I turned and looked at the bar and there was Eric Ambel sitting there. He gave me a little wave and I was so happy.
Rock and roll. It gives me the power. I don’t know what power it is but it keeps us going. When it was over Ernie was fading fast and I wasn’t feeling mobile enough to go over to say goodbye so we handed Owen our credit card and said to get Eric’s newest album, one for us and one for them. Eric was super kind and friendly to Owen and they talked about the Del Lords. Owen was pretty much glowing. Eric gave them some buttons and I quickly stole Trinity’s (sorry, Trin). Chatted briefly to Sarah, Keith, Bob and Lori Andrews (damn, I love them) on the way out. Waited for Owen to meet us at the car so we could get our card back. He and Trinity came up in the bug (God, they look good in it) and seemed puzzled when Ernie kept waving at them. Finally Ernie opened the door and yelled, “I need my card back!” Owen laughed and burst out of the bug to give Ernie his card. Man, I just love those two so much. Well, all three of them.
We trundled home and crawled into bed. We had to be at the Cancer Center early the next morning. Yes, we were tired in the morning but it was so worth it. Thank you so much to Ward for booking it and being so kind, and to the Rose Bowl for looking and sounding better than ever without losing it’s Rose Bowl-ness. Thanks most of all to Sarah, Eric, Keith and Kenny for the empowering rock and roll.
Oh, oh, oh…I forgot to add that we saw the last few songs by Julia Rose (our friend Mary Welle’s daughter) and she was really good. She was doing one of my favorite John Prine songs when we came in and finished with a strong original. If we ever get out again lol, we’ll have to go see her and hear more.
Onward.