Fish

A story I forgot to mention in all the emotion of Dan's sendoff is one that Snooze brought back as a wonderful memory. How lucky we both were to have a place ourselves on the mountaintop - only a couple of miles from the Briar Patch and two of the other homes that Dan used to collect almost as numerously as his various land, sea and air vehicles. We used to invite Dan over for dinner, sometimes with some of our more boring friends, and if the dinner conversation ever started to lag, I used to casually mention something about the marijuana laws in this country - knowing full well that would lead to at least a half hour of Dan on his soap box. Hs anyone mentioned yet that things with Dan were never dull?Anyway - back to the story Snooze reminded me of. Dan hung on to the Briar Patch for an amazingly long time after he wasn't able to continue paying for its upkeep. (SO many happy memories of that wonderful house)! Well, a few years ago the time finally came when he'd exhausted all his options and a date certain for foreclosure was looming. We knew Dan well enough to know that the loss of that house was more than a little humiliating to him. Nevertheless, in a show of the type of dignity (not a word that may always pop up in descriptions of Dan, but it should) that I think he patented, he invited us over for dinner the night before he finally had to move out. There, warmed only by the wonderful, fume leaking wood burning stove in the kitchen, he served us up a wonderful, delicious meal in the warmest ambience you can imagine. What a class guy he was! I learned so much from him.