Update

The funeral of my wife's student and her younger sister was paid for by an anonymous donor, meaning that the other monies collected will help other families victimized by fire.

Yesterday's teevee news was full of the story that Citizens' Gas is extending its service shut-off moritorium to next Tuesday as a response to predictions of cold weather this week. That, of course, wouldn't have prevented the shut-off in this case, but after seeing the story twice, including footage of that terrible fire, I hope somebody's conscience has been assuaged, at least in this life.

Death always sends me to the CD racks, generally with something already stuck in my head. Last Friday that was Fairport Convention's cover of "The Ballad of Easy Rider", never released by them, IIRC, but available on a Richard Thompson collection. Sandy Denny's blameless voice and Richard's incomparable playing caught between heaven and hell, and that lyric Dylan scribbled on a cocktail napkin. Wherever that river goes, indeed. I don't know where the choice came from, but I was reminded at some point that Sandy died young, which triggered the recollection of the saddest funny story, or funniest sad story I know. Early on Fairport was involved in a van crash, and Martin Lamble, their eighteen or nineteen-year-old drummer (a band of prodigies!), was killed. In the bios on the band's first press release, under "Previous Occupation" he had written "Child".