I just heard today from a friend that Nate Wiley died. This is a real loss to Philly, its culture, and its music scene. I didn’t know him, but next time I’m at Bob and Barbara’s, I’ll toast his memory and his drinkin’ music.

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I got home late and tired last night, so I belatedly wish you all a happy Halloween. When I arrived at home last night, the porch on our new home (post on that coming soon) was swarming with kids and their parents, all decked out in costumes. What a great way to come home from a long day in New York.

This year, Alisa worked the door in my absence. She strung our porch with pumpkin and ghost lights, which actually looked quite cool. But next year, we will be taking it up a notch. That I can promise.

I’m posting late about this important day, but it shouldn’t be taken as a diminished view of those it is meant to commemorate. War is a dark and shifting mire, but the actions of scores of men and women on the field and elsewhere show that sacrifice and valor can rise to its inky surface. We must not lose the memory of these deeds and these individuals in our despair because they give hope and strength to the belief that even in our darkest times, a greater good can prevail.

“It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain…” — Abraham Lincoln, 1863

Perhaps I sound a bit melodramatic, but it’s hard not to when speaking about the near-hyperbole of war.