Do you have permission to waltz?

Image via WikipediaThis was my first day back in the Real World, and I celebrated by dragging myself out of bed at 5:00 a.m. to do a stint on WUFT/WJUF FM.

Yes, it's time for the Spring Membership Campaign! Unlike last year when we had our record breaking unlikely-to-ever-be-repeated $16,000 morning, we had a more modest but respectable $4,000 morning. I was assured this was very good for a Tuesday in the middle of the drive, and I'm willing to accept that. Today in honor of Earth Day we pushed thank-you gifts like a lovely Florida butterfly gardening book, reusable totes, and a guide to scenic North Florida. We did good and did well.

As always, it was fun being back on the air. I miss my radio days. Not the days of sitting through long land use meetings or getting called out in the middle of supper to go to a fire, but being on the air. Let's face it, there's a lot of egoboo in broadcasting and it still tickles me that people recognize me by my voice--just the other day I was in a check-out line and the older woman at the cash register said, "Didn't you use to do the morning news?" After 26 years away from the mike, she still recognized my voice.

I'll be back in the fall for another membership drive, but until then, if you listen to public radio, don't forget to pledge your support. After all, as I'm sure you've heard before, you are the public in public radio. And we'll send you a nice mug or tote bag as a thank-you gift.