So I spoke to my mother...

Well, yeah, sort-of...
Actually I had a dream (I think I was asleep, anyway). She just stood there sort of forlorn; very worn and old. Nothing said, but some things communicated. She was apologizing for my father. He wasn't the man she married. He had changed a lot over the years, especially early on (maybe that's one reason she was filing for a divorce when he died). So she was sorry. She din't say, I just knew that's what she was here for. It hadn't worked out for me the way she wanted, or imagined.
So I said "I forgive you."
And she disappeard.
Very vivid, very sad, very bizarre. She died in 1991.

Nicknames.

A little trivia (personal):
When I was very small (I have been told I was once) an acquaintance of the family (Harry Schram, a bass player of sorts) used to call me Bo. As a nickname. I don't actually remember this, but I was told by others.
An interesting choice....daughter Seph will understand the irony.

Yaktrax

Snow Bad, Yaktrax good.
More snow VERY BAD. Yaktrax VERY GOOD.
Thanks EP2.