The human mind is a strange place to find ourselves living if we ever get enough distance from the background noise to notice. I tend to notice it a lot.
This morning seemed destined to be just another day. Gale and Kay were doing the Austin Gem and Mineral Show, so I’d figured to walk up to his house to get the truck mid-day so’s to take care of putting their chickens to bed tonight. Startled me a bit when I looked up and there he sat in Little Red a few feet away, having brought it down to me. My hearing must be further gone than I’d realized.
Seemed they’d no sooner gone than I got an email from Jeanne saying my old friend from childhood and later lost-gold-mine chasing days was in Fredericksburg trying to get hold of me hoping I could get over there for lunch. Heck, it must be 15 years or more since I’ve seen Keith, though recently he’s been reading this blog. Naturally him being 40 miles away and me with a truck sitting there available, I headed over there.
Really nice visit, but in the course of bringing one another up-to-date he asked me a number of questions about my situation here that forced me to take a hard look and organize my thoughts about it all. That kicked off a series of trails of thinking to organize clearer, more concrete priorities for myself within a realistic examination of my options.
There aren’t a lot of them, but they’re all stacked atop a single one: having the means of leaving this place in a relatively short time if the need arises. It’s time I decided on a single course of action and begin leading events in a direction that allows it to congeal in a way that accomodates the needs of the cats.
But the process of thinking about it in an organized way had a parallel thinking-path over whispering somewhere else in my brain wiggling out a sort of excitement, anticipation about it. Here’s something that will be pure trauma and agony for the cats I do everything possible to spare such things, and my ticker’s beating a little faster in a pleasurable way just considering it.
That, combined with the certainty the process of getting things together to execute the plan I come with is going to involve some unpleasantness, excruciating work and fingernail chewing as it goes along.
Seems I’ve somehow contrived to be two different places at the same time inside my mind. One being pushed by probabilities to do what makes sense rather than what I’d prefer, the cats would prefer. And one reaching somewhere into fond memories of pinon trees, high mountains and an entirely different sort of solitude than I have here.
Keith confided to me today, “Everyone thinks you’re crazy.” I can’t find any good argument that everyone’s wrong. It’s nice being crazy and still being as happy as I manage to be all the time, though.
Anyway, to satisfy that fiddle-footed nagging, here are some songs of the highway and the road.
Old Jules
The Cheers – “Black Denim Trousers”
Roger Miller “Me And Bobby McGee”
Merle Haggard – White Line Fever
NAT KING COLE ROUTE 66
John Denver – Live in Japan 81 – Take Me Home, Country Roads
Roger Miller – I’ve Been A Long Time Leavin’ (But I’ll Be A Long Time Gone)
Hank Snow – I’ve Been Everywhere
Charley Pride-Is Anybody Goin’ To San antone
Playmates – Beep Beep (The Little Nash Rambler)
Robert Mitchum sings The Ballad of Thunder Road
Roy Orbison – Ride Away
C. W. McCall “Wolf Creek Pass”
Hot Rod Lincoln – Charlie Ryan and the Timberline Riders 1960
MAC DAVIS Texas in My Rear View Mirror
Guy Clark LA Freeway
Willie Nelson On the Road Again
Easy Rider – Born To Be Wild (HQ)
LOST HIGHWAY by Hank Williams
Leonard Cohen – I Can’t Forget (live 1988)
Beach Boys – (It’s The) Little Old Lady From Pasadena
Beach Boys live ’64 Little Deuce Coupe
Neil Young – Hitchhiker
VANITY FARE HITCHIN A RIDE
‘YOU KNOW I LOVE YOU’ BY KENNY ROGERS & THE 1ST EDITION
Fats Domino – Walking to New Orleans
So Far From Heaven 
We are ALL crazy Old Jules but please don’t upset the cats….
Hi guttermutt: There’s an element of truth in what you’ve said. All a matter of degree, I reckons. The cats are used to me. They’ve been through such as this before in their lives. Maybe that will mitigate things somewhat. Gracias, Jules
Oooo, a change is gonna come, perhaps? It’s a good feeling, when we can sense that slow turning into the new, or when life turns on a dime and next thing we know, we’re someplace else, in our minds or in our lives. Whichever this turns out to be, I wish you scads of fun while you go through whatever it is you’ll go through to get there. It sounds like New Mexico….
You’ve got some great tunes for the “road.”
Hi Teresa Evangeline. A change is going to be prepared for. When and whether it comes will be in other hands than mine. Glad you visited and enjoyed the tunes. Gracias, Jules
“Some” songs? Dang! Not everybody thinks you’re crazy Old Jules. Although, you do seem to be able to get a good distance from that background noise 🙂
Nice post. Here I like John Denver, Willie Nelson and the Beach Boys because I was growing up with them. Then, there were Manfred Mann, Petulla Clark, Herman Hermits and so on. Now, I still go for Kenny Rogers, Aaron Neville and ………………. Thanks for sharing.
Hobojoe: I had an idea you might recognize some of those. Thanks for the visit. Gracias, Jules
thank you for this great article –
all my guitar heroes together:
Rodger Miller
Merle Haggard
Hank Snow
John Denver
Willie Nelson
Hank Williams
Leonard Cohen
Neil Young
frizztext: I salute your tastes. Gracias, Jules
well, I was fell into a conversation with a fellow, on a long lay over and he told me, there isn’t a sane soul on the planet. Turns out he was a head doctor and he said buisness was good (grin) country roads…aint heard that in yearsm had to break out the head set for that one. have a quality day (~_~)
zendictive: I suppose we have to assume the head doctor included himself among us. Thanks for the visit. Jules
You’ve added more ……… I like Fats Domino especially “Blue Berry Hill” (my favorite karaoke hit) then Hank Marvin “Your Cheating Heart.” In fact, there’s another, I cannot recall his name somewhere in the 70s singing country and western. Thanks for the adding.
Hi Michael: Ride Away by Roy Orbison isn’t playing, I see. I reckons I’ll have to go back and try to find another posting of it. Gracias, Jules
I would sacrifice a lot of things to live in the mountains, should there be such an option in the future. As noted elsewhere, “crazy” is just what folks call a way of finding a peace they don’t understand.
Good morning Ed. Those mountains have their own siren song. I’m obliged for the visit. Gracias, Jules
I love that you post songs. Its great.
2gadabout: I’m glad you enjoy them. I’ve debated with myself at times whether it was worth posting them because I wasn’t sure anyone listened to them. Gracias, Jules
Thanks for adding more to your post. I saw Charlie Pride – the one that I was not able to recollect (getting old). I love the way he croon. Those days I was able to get his songs in tapes. But, no longer available unless on You Tube. I like Nat King Cole too. Do you sing, Old Jules?
Hi Michael. Thanks for coming by. I’m not aware I added to the post, but my mind doesn’t always register what I do. Maybe I was on autopilot. Yeah, I sing, but the chickens, cats, and any human being unfortunate enough to hear me do it would prefer otherwise. Gracias, Jules