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Dear Garrison, I attended the

July 6, 2005 |

Dear Garrison,
I attended the show at Blossom Music Center last evening. I first saw the show at the World Theater in 1978 (4 bucks?) and have seen many over the years. I must say that last night's performance was one of the best I have seen. I believe it is because, more than ever, you seem to be a man at ease with what you are doing. In other words, you just keep getting better. How can this be? I am two years younger than you and three weeks ago they made me stop being an airline pilot (Northwest) because I turned 60. Apparently I can get no better. I obtained last night's tickets through a WKSU fund drive. They over-hyped the fact that the after-show ice cream social would be a chance to meet with the cast. By the time we found the social, the ice cream was gone and there was no cast that I could see. That was OK, but I hoped to introduce my 12-year-old son to you and Mr. Russell and others. I would have reminded you of the time 20 or so years ago I ambushed you in the Red Concourse of MSP and had you sign my pilot logbook. (I felt bad for that, you looked so pained.) I would have reminded Tim of the time I was a co-pilot on a flight in which he was conducting a Good Neighbor Tour for 'CCO, and that he and I are of the few people who recall Winky-Dink. But we had a great time anyway. (I think my son really likes the show and is not just patronizing an elderly father.) I realized as I nearly burst into tears at the closing scene in the new Star Wars movie that this marked my life's journey, that when I saw the first one, I was a young man in his 30's. Your show is so much more than that to me. Please keep taking your vitamins.

B. David Petersen
Ashland, OH

Captain Petersen, thank you for the kind thoughts. Everyone had a pretty good time at Blossom, despite the humidity, despite our upbringings, and I'm sorry I had to bag out of the ice-cream social. I was bunged up with a bad back and after the encore of "Chapel of Love" and "Under the Boardwalk" I limped back to the dressing room and lay down on my back on the floor, a huge relief. I could hear people chortling outdoors at the social and thought about joining them but it felt so good to lie flat in a quiet dark place and at our age, Captain, we have to indulge ourselves a little. I hope your back isn't giving you problems. The answer is to do ten minutes of simple floor stretching, including a few crunches and push-ups, twice a day, and it's a big challenge for me to make myself do it. But I'm resolved to do whatever it takes to keep going for a few more years. When you finally, after decades of stumbling around, come within sight of something like competence, it's no time to quit.

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