Rather have minor accidents than be in a dysfunctional band

When DON FELDER joined the EAGLES during the recording of "ON THE BORDER," he witnessed the creative and personal fissures opening between DON HENLEY and GLENN FRY, saw the marginalization of his Florida high school buddy BERNIE LEADON, felt RANDY MEISNER was growing apart from the rest, and Felder felt convinced he had agreed to participate in a music-making endeavor that was on the verge of breaking up.
Although the Eagles' first phase of operations continued another five years, Felder's conclusion was actually correct -- the band was breaking up, they were just doing so in slow motion.
Yesterday was a rather awful day. Our newest driver, KERSTIN, was involved in a minor fender-bending that caused more trauma for her than actual damage to the vehicles and my father-in-law's recovery from surgery continued, albeit in a slow, taxing fashion.
With MY BELOVED OREGON DUCKS playing the latest fall guys in college football's ranking follies, last night I decided to plunge back into MARC ELIOT'S "TO THE LIMIT: THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE EAGLES" while listening to what many critics consider the Eagles' creative peak, the 1976 landmark album "HOTEL CALIFORNIA."
Eliot's description of the world tour accompanying the album sharpens the focus on the widening fault lines of the band's slow-motion breakup.
"To many veterans of the Eagles' road crew, the extent of the band's self-indulgence seemed worse than ever. Moreover, the competitive friction between Henley and Frey not only hadn't let up, it became more intense on the road, where the two were constantly in each others faces, their conflicts over the band's leadership fueled by ever-increasing amounts of cocaine. Things became worse when each developed factions of support within the crew and nobody from one faction was allowed to communicate directly with anyone from the other. Each now occupied his own section of the band's jet, with only his friends allowed there."
I actually began to feel better, as I read more details of the dysfunctional band.
Sure, they had (and probably still have) millions in the bank and beautiful California coastal homes.
Here's what I have, though: The empowering ability to hug my daughter after a minor accident help her stop crying in a parking lot.
I'd take that any day.