Dater: Be Merry

Avs in good shape as Xmas break hits, and random thoughts

PUTNEY, Vt. - Hello from Vermont, where I’ll be for a few days for the holidays.

Staying at Dad’s old country house here in Putney. One of the benefits of coming here is having maple syrup that literally has just been boiled down from the sap from real maple trees that are everywhere here. I used to help my dad boil his down every winter and, I promise you, there is nothing better than pure Vermont maple syrup. My dad always bottles about 200 of them.

It’s always fun to hear some stories from his life again, such as this one about being in the actual room of this Bob Dylan-Johnny Cash Nashville recording in 1969 as part of Dylan’s “Nashville Skyline” album.

Dad was the sound guy for a documentary made on Johnny Cash called: “The Man, His World, His Music” in 1969 that includes this footage. I think he was like, one of five people in that room. He went out to dinner with Dylan and Cash once. Dad also was a camera man and ACTED in the movie shown below in this cool poster. He played the role of Nicodemus. Look for his name in the credits:

Anyway, I want to wish you all a Merry Christmas. Personally, I’ll be glad when the year 2023 is over, but still very grateful to be here and write and have my writing be read.

Let me give some Christmas Eve thoughts on the Avs:

• Just an outstanding performance last night in beating Arizona. Avs were on the puck all night long and excellent defensively. Maybe the best defensive game I’ve seen them play this year.