I must really be getting old. The days are just zooming by here in the twilight of a mediocre career. For instance, what happened to summer? My dear friend, Paula Starr Barovetto, passes away in May and now it's Wagon Days. Where is the time going, I ask you? Did we have summer? There was a lot of rain, I remember. Then, there were cold nights and a lot of hailing. There were no forest fires. Baldy is completely green. All the kids are back in school, the wolves are on death row and the football season has started. Life is a blur. What happened?
Out of this haze of fleeting moments, I recalled the Wagon Days Weekend of 1978 when some friends and I entered the parade with a little red wagon pulled by actors from a forgotten comic revue called "The Whoop Show." We had a rip-roaring time and waved at the crowd and sang "The Midnight Train to Georgia." That night, we performed at the Alpine Saloon, later to become Whiskey Jacques'. It's hard to realize that the Casino, the Pioneer and the Cristiania are the only places left where you can sip a libation now.
Gone are the Warm Springs Ranch restaurant, Slavey's, the Ore House, Mulvaney's, Creekside, Snug, Le Club, Chez Paul, Jazz on the Green on Thursdays and Jazz at the Galleria on Friday nights. There's no more Louie's or Annie's Ice Cream or the Ketchum Wine Market. What happened to the Wood River Journal, Williams Market, the Golden Rule, Bald Mountain Hot Springs, Evergreen restaurant, the Sun Valley Athletic Club and Elkhorn? What happened to all that fun and love and laughter? Never mind that. What happened to summer?
Nice talking to you.
