Thanks very much for dropping by the Three Things podcast. Here, once a week, I try to stop to consider three things that left behind tracks of happiness and gratitude. This week

1. Palimpsest – Things fade, like autographs on guitar straps.

2. Family history – A new story from my mom!

3. Long view – RIP Ian Tyson.

I am not a cowboy. I don’t once a year pretend to be a cowboy. Not even a fan of the rodeo, gotta say. But on Friday, November 13, 1987, I danced a polka with Shelagh McAnally at a nightclub in downtown Edmonton. Since then I have been an Ian Tyson fan. (I was a Shelagh McAnally fan already.) I have known Harold Munsons who have helped me get through lean times. I have known what it’s like to hold my tongue at borders. I have thought about the buffalo. I still like to strum and play Night Rider's Lament.

The original music in the podcast is composed and played by Edmonton pianist and piano instructor Brendan McGrath. The end bells are courtesy Edmonton metal artist and humanitarian Slavo Cech.

I am at [email protected]

Happy New Year to all of us who have made it across the Great Divide into 2023.