When I was in Alaska for a month this summer, some friends of Hobo Stripper opened their home to me and let me a room. They were a married couple and the husband was a kind, burly, missing-a-few-teeth, hardy, hardworking Alaskan. He was a fixture at the bar where I worked and in the town where I stayed. We didn't have too many in-depth conversations, but he was the kind of guy you knew could fix just about anything and would do just about anything in his capability to help you out without being real obvious about it, just because that's how people are up there. Lots of actions, not so many words.

Tara just passed along the news that he died this past week, in unclear circumstances, found by his wife when she returned from working out of town. She lost her previous husband (once when she was giving me a ride she let me know he was in the truck with us. His ashes were, rather, as she figured out what to do with them). Now she's lost another husband and will probably spend a lot of time dealing with his children and hers in unpleasant circumstances. My sympathy and love to you, T; I am so, so sorry to hear about D.