Best of 2024

Considering the number of high points this year delivered, in order to keep this post a reasonable length, I'm forced to leave out several things that would easily have made earlier iterations in this series. No matter. Please share with me and others as many "best of" moments from 2024 as you wish, using either my headings or your own.

Best single moment: No contest here: On October 3 at 6:37 p.m., I became a grandfather. How I wish my new grandson lived right around the block vs. across the country. 

Best musical moments: The first few measures playing Body and Soul with just a pianist at an open jazz jam session at the Long Branch Distillery in March and then parts of my solo in Summertime at another session at the Chubby Pickle in Atlantic Highlands in September.  

Best vacation: The two-week trip across four countries in southern Africa we took in February was so exceptional, putting it in a "best of 2024" bucket is inadequate. That vacation might be the best my wife and I have taken together over our 47+ years.

Best documentary: Stamped from the Beginning, based on Ibram X. Kendi's eponymous book from 2016, was riveting start to finish. The segments featuring the fiercely intelligent Angela Davis are revelatory.

Best sign in a coffee shop: "We have no Wi-Fi. Pretend it's 1995 and talk to one another."

Best crow-eating discovery: Stumbling onto The Last Rung on the Ladder a 1978 short story by a young Stephen King. It's easy, if lazy, for reading snobs to bad mouth King, given his massive popularity and prodigious output. But this early story of his - no horror, mayhem, or vampires in sight - reminded this snob of his undeniable writing talent. The taste of crow remains fresh, many months later.

Please join me in celebrating 2024. And Happy New Year!