Went off at 20 to 1, finished at 5:45

New tires on my rig, a recording of Gaetano Donizetti’s “The Elixir of Love” suffusing the interior of the car; me, flush with the ducats from when humans raced horses and wagered on the outcomes in Lexington and Cincinnati and Louisville and Paducah.

And flusher yet after touring the Maker’s Mark distillery in Loretto, it wasn’t that far to the Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani so I drove over and asked to speak with Thomas Merton. He died when?

Well, I had a little something in Bardstown, that and The Who’s Who’s Next? now on the sound system, it wasn’t long before I found myself paying respects to Robert Penn Warren in Guthrie.

And still made it back in time to call and wish happy birthday to Tim Brady, my friend, colleague and collaborator—for the fuller story, click here.