And Seventeen years slipped away.

Jay Leno will retire from the Tonight Show next summer.

This, of itself, is not cause for article (post), comment or much of anything.

BUT in reading a Yahoo blurb in passing I saw that it will have been seventeen years.

I remember Carson so well sitting on that stool showing the photos taken by his dead son… Carson was almost family.

But SEVENTEEN years??? where does it go.

Jimmy Buffet had a song lo' these many years ago that expresses how I feel about this..

"...He was impressive,

young and aggressive,

saving the world on his own

Warm summer breezes

and french wines and cheeses

put his ambitions at bay

summers and winters

scattered like splinters

and four or five years slipped away

…"and all of the answers

to all of the questions

locked in his attic one day

he liked the quiet

clean country living

and twenty more years slipped away"

Comments: 23

Doc, in the middle, holding on... Curmudgeon esq. Jul 21, 2008, 10:10pm EDT

and come Christmas I will have been here six years.

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Larry H. Jul 21, 2008, 10:15pm EDT

thanks for sharing..

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Kimberly Ripley Jul 21, 2008, 10:17pm EDT

I hate to see Jay Leno go. I have tried really hard to like Conan but just can't.

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Doc, in the middle, holding on... Curmudgeon esq. Jul 21, 2008, 10:32pm EDT

in very small doses Conan is very funny, but over a whole show the mean shows thru.

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V Renee Jul 21, 2008, 10:36pm EDT

I too remember Carson like yesterday, and how I miss his antics. I'm not big on Leno, and haven't watched him much. It sure doesn't seem like seventeen years.

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LittleMissSunshine - Shel & Barney Rule L. Jul 21, 2008, 10:40pm EDT

Oh wow - I love this.

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Valerie Roars Jul 21, 2008, 11:10pm EDT

where did those 17 years go? ;)

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lena k. Jul 21, 2008, 11:11pm EDT

nice

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Sue * Jul 22, 2008, 9:34am EDT

Time has a way of doing that, particularly as we get older...scary isn't it?

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Julie (there will always be a rainbow) G. Jul 22, 2008, 9:47am EDT

I've never really enjoyed Leno... but I like Conan even less. Carson was a classic... and irreplaceable. I just don't try to stay up that late any more; that way I don't get frustrated. I still think of Leno as "new," believe it or not...

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K S. Jul 22, 2008, 11:34am EDT

and on to the next guy ................ what ever happened to the time? ... it certainly does NOT seem like 17 years have passed, already .....

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Doc, in the middle, holding on... Curmudgeon esq. Jul 22, 2008, 11:52am EDT

yes.. "and on to the next guy" K S... just like life.

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Ron B. Jul 22, 2008, 12:17pm EDT

I didn't believe it as a boy, but time does fly...

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Vicky P. Jul 22, 2008, 2:15pm EDT

I've never watched any of those shows. But yes time does fly.

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Debby C. Jul 22, 2008, 4:18pm EDT

I'm not really into either one of them, nobody does it like Carson did it! and I cannot believe that it's been 17 years. I was wondering why they would be changing so soon since (so I thought) Leno just took over! Time flies when you aren't paying attention.

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Doc, in the middle, holding on... Curmudgeon esq. Jul 22, 2008, 4:22pm EDT

must be all this fun we are having Deb...

Actually I enjoy most parts of my life.

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Vivian P. Jul 22, 2008, 4:25pm EDT

17 years wow has it been that long I have been in my home for what ? 23 years now Oh my it's almost paid for !!!

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Doc, until you mentioned it, I'd been blissfully unaware that 17 years went poof... until I looked at my 17 year old son and realized he's graduating high school this year (we think. =)

Good call on the Buffet, too. I love that song.

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