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Friday August 2, 2002
Spent a lot of time out of town this summer. Over leave made the obligatory trip to Texas to see the extended families of Linda and I. We came back and the Note traveled to Wilmington for our Fourth of July performance. I took the Metroliner. Love the train. On the East coast if you just try riding the train once you'll never go back. Forget the recent derailment in DC. Statistically it's way more safe than driving.
We traveled to Framingham, MA a couple of weeks ago to attend the Sudbury Valley Conference, which is always a really wonderful event. Great energy and positive thinking about students-led learning and democracy in schools for Linda and I, and the kids have great fun. Throw them in any Sudbury School anywhere and they know exactly what to do.
We now have two dogs, Max, a male golden retriever we got in the spring, and Louie, a female English Labrador we picked up from the breeder a couple of weeks ago. Our dogs are named after drummers. Our dog Tony (after the drummer Tony Williams), died June 9, 2001. I printed an epitaph:
To all potentially interested parties,
I'm sorry to announce that 15-year-old Tony Williams, our beloved Shelty, departed the planet a few hours ago via a lethal dose of anesthesia administered by his veterinarian.
The unfortunate onset of kidney failure interrupted Tony's life work of warning us about our neighbor, the incredibly evil Mr. Elmer Foster. We had only recently come to understand the message that Tony was trying to give us by his constant barking: that Elmer with his lawnmowers and "friendly" waves is going to kill us all unless somebody "does something"...
Tony will also be remembered for his superb deer imitations as well as his namesake's work with the Miles Davis Quintet in the late sixties.
Upon digging up Tony's will (which names Sheila E., the cat, executor) in the hedge, we have found that Tony's final wishes were that everyone go outside this weekend, drive away in your car, roll down the window and stick your head out. Following that, he would like for everyone to drink out of the toilet, urinate all over the living room, then take a nap.
He also left his gigantic water bowl (he drank a lot while his kidneys were going bad) to Billy Higgins, the cat, residing in the Danny & Natalie O'Brien household in Denton, Texas.
Surviving Tony are Sheila, guinea pigs Jora & Tingle, and a bunch of humans (who, let's face it, he just could not tell apart).
Tony was buried in a brief ceremony in the Jackson family backyard near the grave of the late Poofy the rabbit. The grave site overlooks a large expanse of our backyard which, until today, Tony could only gaze at longingly through his fenced-in run.
Donations can be made to the memorial "Someone Get That Elmer Foster Before Something Horrible Happens" fund which has been established in his memory to fund aspiring puppies to see the evil incarnate in supposedly friendly next-door neighbors.
-Joe Jackson
So now, Max (after the drummer Max Roach) and Louie (after the drummer Louis Bellson) have to continue the battle.
©2003, Joe Jackson. All rights reserved.