1

I saw the ducks.

It’s a ritual at the Peabody Hotel. The Duckmaster parades them out of the fountain down a red carpet into the elevator, which takes them to the rooftop, their nighttime abode.

You can miss it, but I was in the neighborhood at the right time, five o’clock. I found out about it from Al Kooper. We live in a world of recommendations.

2

I wasn’t gonna go, to see the ducks, but the retired couple from Rockford, Illinois on the free bus convinced me.

They acted like I had no idea where they were from, but I immediately exclaimed THE HOME OF CHEAP TRICK!

The husband nodded vigorously in acknowledgement.

3

At first I wasn’t sure if the bus was free. So I asked the German girl. I didn’t know she was German at first, but when she answered and I heard the accent and realized we were having a bit of a problem communicating, I understood.

Actually, she understood pretty good. Don’t catch me trying to speak German in Germany.

But I had fantasies I’d get on this bus and be taken to a location far, far away and would be busted as a freeloader. So I got up all my gumption and asked the aforementioned Illinois couple for details.

This was very difficult for me. I’m shy and embarrassed. If things don’t go my way, I don’t brush it off, I feel bad inside. I could never be a salesman, I can’t take that much rejection. Furthermore, my father’s mantra was YOU GOTTA ASK! And we seem to do the opposite of what our parents do. We don’t want to be like them.

But not only did I get this couple’s life story, they told me the bus was indeed free and not only would it take me back to Beale Street, but even on to Graceland.

People are friendly. People want to talk.

I guess my father was right.

4

We went to a soul food restaurant for lunch. For a while, we were the only white people there. And I started to wonder, is this how it’s going to be? Is it only a matter of time before white people become a minority? When we’re the oppressed race?

5

My lunchmates were Blame Sally. Well, not exactly. The drummer for Blame Sally and two women from their record company.

The drummer was a gardener before. The junior label person worked for two years for free before she got hired on for pay. And the big label honcho (honchette?) funded her way to today by being a massage therapist and a barista.

Which may be why the music business is not peopled by the educated and rich. Because they just don’t have the patience. They can’t wait. They need the money now.

And sometimes, the money never comes at all.

6

I can’t stop looking at the Mississippi. Maybe it’s Mark Twain, maybe it’s the bouncing ball spelling out the word in the song in that cartoon. Maybe it’s…

I get that feeling looking at the Pacific, one of possibilities. The big ole’ river keeps rolling, just like John Fogerty sang. You can see it moving. And it’s deep and wide. And on the other side is a whole new state. And the land is so flat…  Flooding is a real possibility.

As Robert Plant once sang, I come from the land of ice and snow. Everything I know about the river is from books and movies. To actually be here next to it blows my mind even more than entering Sun Studios. The river never dies. It keeps on moving. We’re the ones who come and go.

7

Al Kooper was not the only one who referenced the ducks. Thanks to all those giving advice. What I’ve learned is I’ve got to eat barbecue, the consensus is the Rendezvous, even though some people disagree.

And I’ve got to get fried chicken at Gus’s. Everyone agrees with that.

And what I love about this wired world is how we’re all connected, how we’re all in it together, how despite our differences, we all look out for each other.