New Year's Eve, 2003 : Covelo

The House of Jupiter, under construction. I haven't really been procrastinating. I think about the book as I work. This picture symbolises quite well the state of my mind. Here, as promised, is my Honours List for the New Year of 2004. Those who made practical contributions to the enterprise are granted the status of Purveyors of Substance to Jupiter, and may append the letters PSJ to their names Those who supported me with encouragement and good vibrations are elected as Purveyors of Spirit to Jupiter, and may rejoice in the suffix PSJ. Yes, I know they're the same. I like it that way. A word about precedence. I am obliged to say that the Queen's Honours take precedence over mine. Thus, for example, if Don Eilenberger of New Jersey were to become today a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath, he could henceforth describe himself as Sir Don Eilenberger, KCB, PSJ, NJ. Here then is the list. I stopped counting at 250. It is remarkable how many people took some part in this adventure, as opposed to the thousands who lurked by the wayside. I am sure there are some whose names should be on this list but were lost to me. They know who they are, and should adopt the honorific if they feel entitled. I will not pursue them, and apologise for my poor record- keeping. Some people are represented here only by their surnames. They helped at the outset and then drifted away. I don't know why. But after nine-eleven, when I made some controversial remarks, one man wrote indignantly from the American heartland and said I had lost a lot of people who had been with me. Perhaps they are the ones. But they put out at the beginning and deserve to be remembered. All joking aside, I owe you all a huge debt of gratitude for understanding what I wanted to accomplish, and helping me along. The hardest leg of the journey is now, as I try to make the book greater than the sum of its parts. So read on - and if you're not on the list, you may eat your heart out. Rene Agredano, Saad Alami, Guy Allen, Robert Al-Shamma, Robert Altic, Errol Amy, Mark Anisman, Axel Arft, Chuck Auckerman Baedke, Bill Baillie, Chris Baker, Joanie Barbier, Maria Barry, Jeff Bean, Frank Bednar, Martin Belson, Delphine Benezet, Cyril Benn, Joe Benning, Carl Bennett, Mark Bennett, David Bentley, Charlie Bergstedt, Ken Bertran, Markus Biebricher, Nigel Billen, Adrian Blake, Boesveld, Erwin & Ingrid Bollansee, Botter, Ron Braithwaite, John Branch, Zak Brent, Georgie Brewster, Mark Briant, Mary Brick, David Brick, Jo Briggs, Denis Brown, Susan Buck, Andy Buchan, Stephen Burgess, Frank Butler. Bertrand Cadart, Canale, Piero Caracciolo, Leslie Cardone, Jan Carter, John Carter, Heather Chait, Jonathan Chait, Roclo Chavarriaga, Peter Chester, Lorraine Chittock, Mariola & Kris Cichon, Emily Clack, John Clarke, Blair Cliffe, Mike Coan, Dr David Collins, John Conely, Elaine Constable, Frank Cooper, Peter Cragg, Jim & Sylvia Crain, Adrian Crawford, Deane Crawforth, Brian Crichton. Leonard D, Martyn Dale, Robert Davies, Ken Davis, Ian Dawson, Steve Day, Guillaume Devred- Smith, Adolfo Dittborn and family, Linda Dodwell, Roland Dornes, Rob Van Driesum, Jerry Duncan, Stephen Dusz, Ken & Carol Duval. Jerome Eberharter, Robert Echard, Arthur Edwards, John Edwards, Dennis and Prebble Eklof, Teresa Elder, Elhart, James Ellars, Heather Ellis, Matt Engelbrecht, Frank Engert, Paul English, Udo and Karen Erath, Dirk Erker. Roberto Faccin, Susan Favor, Tessa Fairbairn, John Ferree, Lee Fishback, Court Fisher, Robert Fisher, Jeff Fletcher, John Flora, Fortney, Ray Fowell, Frehe, Ken Freund, Ollie Fuller, Paul Furlong. Toby & Ann Garrad, Bill Geddes, Dexel Geney, Lianne Gentle, Richard George, Jennifer George, Catherine Germillac, Voni Glaves, Glennon, Peter & Susan Gilfedder, Bill Golden, Andy Goldfine, Colin Goodwin, Leo Graham,John Grainger, Markus Grave, J. Green, Gregg, Norman Grills, Marcio Grise. Anthony Haggie, Henning Hahn, Gar Haines, Ken Hall, Angela Hall, Philip Hall, Brian Halton, Philip Ham, Ahmed Hamad, Fares Hamse, Matt Handbury, Christoph Handschuh, Harold of Port Elizabeth, Rebecca Harris, David Hart, Marcel Hartges, Richard Harwood, Molly Hatton, Steve and Dewi Haygarth, Don Henderson, Pansy Herring, David Hewiston, Tony Hickey, Bob Higdon, Robert Higgins, Mark Hobba, Justin Hocevar, R. Hodder, Terry Hodges, R. Hodgson, Hans-George Hoffman, Linda Holman, Alex Hooper, Peter Hopkins, Graeme Howarth, Graeme Howie, Thomas M Hunter, Angus Hutchinson. Phil Isherwood-Crook. Richard Jacobek, Tiberio Jaramillo, Roger Jarrell, Peter Jess, Al Jesse, Grant and Susan Johnson, Iain Johnston, Clive Jones, Steve Jordan, Dave Jordan, Jackie Jouret, Bill Juhl, Juntti. Paul Kahn, Dennis Kaill, Nunu Kalgis, Jerry Kaplan, Lisa Keating, Judy Kennedy, Mr. Khairrul, Carla King, David King, William Kilbourn, Stephen Kinloch, Kirk Knighton, William Koch, Steve Kramme, Mona Krupski. Stuart and Stephanie Larman, Andy Laurence, Eric Lawrie, Vince Leonard, Rodney LeValley, Berti Levy, Andy Leviseur, Anne Lizdas, N.Llewellyn-Jones, Ted Lockett, George Lockyer, Roberto Lopez, Miguel Lopez, Pip Lorentz, Gabriel Los Santos, Brian Luckett, Bill Luring, Pete Lusk. Mark Manley, Scot Marburger, Robert Marion, Nigel Marx, Thomas Mattanovich, Sophie McCallum , David McLeod, Wally McCulley, Gary McDonald, David McGonigal, Chick McKain, Mike McKee, Susan McLaughlin, McPherson, Emerson Milenski, Joe Miller, Dave Milligan, Michael Mills, John Mintier, Alan Mohr, Lucelly Montoya, Paul Moody, Robert Moore, John Morris, Cal Mowrer, Miftah Muman, Maarten Muntinga. Kevin Nerden, Heiko Neumann, Simon Nicholls, Reiner Nitschke, Chris Norloff, Maria Luisa Noronha, Lim Norton. Anniken and Dan O'Connell, Mick & Trish O'Shea, Robert O'Toole, Claire Oldani, Karen Oliver, Larry Orlick, Frank Ormonde, Stefan Oscarson. Derek Packham, Rick Panneman, Franco Panzanini, Roger Paquette, Tony Parker, David Parkinson, Mike Patton, Mike Paull, Paulsen, Jim Pavlis, Andrew Pegge, Paul Peterzell, John Petrocelli, John Petty, Phil Pilgrim, Ty Pink, Janie Pope, Neal Poston, Lee Potratz, Anand Prakash, Paul Pringle. Suzy Q. Drew Radford, John Rains, KC Raju, Leonard Raygor, Ruth Reebel, Sophia Reinders, Scott Ressler, John Richards, Ringsrud, Glynn Roberts, Lisa Roberts, Graham Rogers, Rick Rohlf, Roland, Meg Ross, John Rowlands, Greg Ruffin, Christopher J. Russell. Karen Sadler, John Saguto, Reza Sarhangi, Ron Sands, Satterthwaite, Tim Saunders, John Scarrer,MD., Richard Schiller, Werner Schink, Ted Schultze, James Shaw, Adrian Scott, Chris Scott, Laurie Scott, Charles Seymour, Richard Sherratt, Bob Shilling, Shirey, Dan Shoemaker, Glen Short, Malu Sierra, Amin Simaika, Teresa Simon, Bob Sinclair, Jerry Sjostrom, Rachel Skipsey, Richard Sky, Chris Slydel, Mark Smith, Tom Spang, Karen Spaulding, Paul Spiegel, John Stapleford, David Stafford, Bill Stermer, Margaret Stewart, Jaye Strait, Janet Street- Porter, David Stroman, James Suttie, Graham Suttill, William Swan. Pete Tamblyn, Tarleton, Dick Tatlock, Chris Taylor, Jane Taylor, Dick Taylor, Bernd Tesch, Elmarie Theron, Lester Thorpe, Tichatzky, Mauricio and Macky Tirado, Steve Tonnesen, Dan Toporoski, Mike Truel, Coban Tun, Mary Turner, Adrienne Tusoni, Mark Tuttle Jr, M.J. Tweedie, Carl Tyler. Ray Umashankar. Andrea Vachon, Fernando and Carmen Viale, Paolo Volpara, Scott Voltz, Jacques Vroom. Manfred Waffender, Eliot Walker, Jeremy Walker, Troyce Walls, Tom Walsh, Charles Ward, Mark Ward, Gail Warden, Bill Warren, Dr. Leon Watts, Heidi Weldon, Eric West, Tony Wheeler, Andy White, Jim White, John Whitmore, Mike Whitney, John Barron Wike, Dave & Rowan Willet, Carol Williams, Rob Woodruff, Ray Worster, Ralph Wustefeld, David Wyndham. Phil Yeomans. Werner Zwick A view from my new windows. The debris in the foreground is what's left of a greenhouse from my past incarnation as a vegetable farmer. It should be gone by the time you arrive. The Garden Party It is traditional for great honours to be bestowed at a garden party, and I believe that could be a happy and fitting occasion. Some of you know that I intended to move on from here to Chile. This is not happening. I won't go into it here, but it means that I will be at home for most of this year. I will have to announce the date of the party later, but I expect it would be in late summer. If you would like to express a vague interest in coming, I'd find that quite useful. If you all came, I could promise you at least one grain of rice each, but there could be more. Those not on the list are welcome too, but will be herded together in a separate spectator's enclosure guarded by a local deputy who happens to live on the premises. Won't that be fun? In memory of warmer nights on the porch NEXT PREVIOUS