I lost a friend this week...he battled cancer for over a year. I met him through my local wine group and spent almost two weeks in 2004 riding around France in a van with him and his wife. He is at my right in the picture above. The picture was taken last Tuesday night as our wine group enjoyed food and wine with an Italian bent. He was in great spirits and as jovial as always. I offered him my Syracuse basketball tickets for a game the following evening. He went to the game...had a beer and a hot dog...and Syracuse won. This Monday he lay back in his bed, shut his eyes and passed on to a better place. When he came to my house to pick up the basketball tickets he gave me a big heart felt hug. That was the last time I saw him alive. Calling hours were last night. He looked good in his casket and he was surrounded by collages of pictures from his adventurous life. There were photos in the Amazon, Egypt, the Galapagos Islands and many other places that he visited in his life. He once told me that he never thought he would be around long enough to see the ice melt off Cazanovia Lake last year. But he was around and he did see it. And here we are in another winter...another frozen Cazenovia Lake. He won't be here to see the ice melt this Spring...but I guarantee you that every year I see it melt...I will remember my friend Rudy.