Takin' the Long Way Around
"But I, I could never follow... No I, I could never follow..." and that's why the NIH clinical study is so important to my sweetie and me. So, where is this post going, you may be asking? This way... the long way around...My sweetie and I both love the Dixie Chicks. I have loved them since they were the original sister trio and I saw them play live, then after a 5k run, at Annette Strauss Square near Pearl and Woodall Rogers service road - awesome! My sweetie got turned on to their music from me. Then, to see them win all those Grammys for that last album after the whole silly "rightwing-talk/country radio/burn the CDs/death threats fiasco" the next year was outstanding, to say the least.
They have a song on that album - it's called The Long Way Around -- that deeply touched my heart and soul. The words are a metaphor for my life. My family lived in Calgary, Edmonton and Kansas City as we all grew up. I went to 4 different high schools in 3 different cities in 2 different countries. Try that on for size when trying to connect! But I made it! So, I went to 2 different universities in 2 different cities -- so there!!
I have been exceedingly fortunate to have had the craving for knowledge and the wanderlust for travel, which is the best education tool of all. I spent 3 months in Europe, backpass and Eurail pass, by myself at age 26. East Berlin and East Germany then. Dogs on the train and the whole East Germany security gig. I spent a 3 weeks in New Zealand hitch hiking both islands with my brother John, and another 10 days in Australia and then Fiji. I've seen Canada up to Montreal. I've seen the entire western US, plus most of the Midwest and South... east to Florida. New Orleans is my new second home and I have lost count of the days and weeks spent feasting with friends and family there! I've seen some of Mexico, and most of Central America on dive trips. Jamaica. Hawaii. The Turks and Caicos. Yap, Palau and the islands of Micronesia. Guam. And the grandest of all -- 4 weeks safariing in Kenya during the great migration, then 5 days on the island of Lamu, with 5 mosques, 1 government vehicle (i.e no cars at all), grey water open mini-canals, ornate Moorish doors hundreds of years old and the friendliest 10,000 people on earth! More here.
Suffice to say that it all has had a huge impact on my life, how I deal with things, and how I look for the best way, not the easy way. It's also why my sweetie and I have such a simpatico relationship, as she is, in many ways, reflected in this song, too.
Now, this is a passage from the song (with 2 years changed to 1), and we are living it, and away we go with this next clinical trial at NIH. I hope you enjoy the amazing vocals, the prescient words, as we keep on trucking together. And I think that this shall be a song at my funeral about 40 years from now!
"It's been one long year now... Since the top of the world came crashing down... And I'm getting' it back on the road now... But I'm taking the long way... Taking the long way around."
(Now, crank the volume!)
The Long Way Around
My friends from high school
Married their high school boyfriends
Moved into houses in the same ZIP codes
Where their parents live
But I, I could never follow
No I, I could never follow
I hit the highway in a pink RV with stars on the ceiling
Lived like a gypsy
Six strong hands on the steering wheel
I've been a long time gone now
Maybe someday, someday I'm gonna settle down
But I've always found my way somehow
By taking the long way
Taking the long way around
Taking the long way
Taking the long way around
I met the queen of whatever
Drank with the Irish and smoked with the hippies
Moved with the shakers
Wouldn't kiss all the asses that they told me to
No I, I could never follow
No I, I could never follow
It's been two long years now
Since the top of the world came crashing down
And I'm getting' it back on the road now
But I'm taking the long way
Taking the long way around
I'm taking the long way
Taking the long way around
The long
The long way around
Well, I fought with a stranger and I met myself
I opened my mouth and I heard myself
It can get pretty lonely when you show yourself
Guess I could have made it easier on myself
But I, I could never follow
No I, I could never follow
Well, I never seem to do it like anybody else
Maybe someday, someday I'm gonna settle down
If you ever want to find me I can still be found
Taking the long way
Taking the long way around
Taking the long way
Taking the long way around
Labels: fun, good wishes, life as we now know it, music
posted by BK @ 5:29 PM
6 Comments:
I am speechless, BK. This is an amazing post, from a remarkable person.
yah but have ya been to lawrence massachusetts? heh. didn't THINK so. kenya shmenya (and all those other places you mentioned, new zealing or whatever) - it ain't no lawrence massachusetts
dixie chicks deserve every bit of the glory you give them here, brave like you!
this awesome entry surpasses one of my all-time favorite passages-from-a-movie - one that i think of all the time, when i think about the great shit that lies within one person's brain - that Rutger Hauer soliloquy at the end of Blade Runner ... "I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe. I've seen attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion bright as magnesium... I rode on the back decks of a blinker and watched c-beams glitter in the dark near the Tanhauser Gate."
your travels beat that platinum-blond android's any day!
as an aside, i also love the Blade Runner soundtrack. i have it on vinyl - sniff. OK it's by vangelis, but ... still great!
[my captcha is "spain"... you been THERE too??]
Thanks to both of you! It means a lot.
Lawrence Mass.? HELL NO! But I've been to Lawrence, Kansas!
"Well, I've never been to Spain, but I kinda like the music...
They say the ladies are insane there, and they sure know how to use it...
You can't refuse it, can't misuse it...
Ain't ever gonna lose it...."
Yea... been there, tapas'ed that! ;-)
guess what lawrence kansas (also an excellent town) named itself after. [seconds ticking, jeopardy music] - lawrence massachusetts
read it and weep
UNCLE!
Bill -
I'm looking forward to our 'Martin-eye' time when you get back.
Sam
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