Is there life on Mars, David Bowie?

Yes. Gone for over a year now. And how quickly this year has passed. And how much the world has changed. Brexit. Russia’s increasing bluster. Trump. I heard this morning on the news that sales of Orwell’s“1984” are booming after the the new administration speaks of “alternative facts.”

I remember first hearing David’s plaintive tune about the Red Planet. It doesn’t seem that long ago but it was. 1971. I remember sitting in a big room, a group circled, passing around the peace pipe, listening to Hunky Dory. Ah. So long ago. The next thing we know, this unique, brave, brilliant musician is gone. Makes no sense. I’m sure he’d perform “I’m Afraid of Americans” were he alive and well and out-and-about today. I wish the genes that have kept Keith Richards and Mick Jagger and Carol King and Willie Nelson plugging along would have infused David. Weird imagery, I know. “The angels have gone.”