The Weight

After struggling across Dowrog Common ankle deep in a soggy bog of orchids, cotton grass and damsel flies, it seemed only right to try, on passing through this farmyard, to weigh the dog* on these antique gravity scales.

There's really no connection between the image and The Band, except the one my own mind threw up, but it seemed a good enough excuse to make a link with their incomparable song of this title.

Quite apart from the fact that Richard Manuel and Rick Danko are now dead (and Levon Helm has battled with throat cancer), the opening chords never fail to send a tingle down my spine.

*Crazy Chester followed me, and he caught me in the fog.
He said, "I will fix your rags, if you'll take Jack, my dog."
I said, "Wait a minute, Chester, you know I'm a peaceful man."
He said, "That's okay, boy, won't you feed him when you can?"