Maybe It's Time We Get Back

When I heard the other day on the radio that Pat's song Dixie Lullaby was categorized in the same genre as the old George Jones fav He Stopped Loving Her Today, it sparked several memories of my childhood and the songs my father used to play dashboard piano to when we were out together. Been thinking about it ever since. One song in particular is Luckenbach, Texas by Waylon Jennings. Some people say that country music will make you want to throw yourself screaming off a bridge, I think the opposite. If you examine the lyrics of this song, you will find that no matter what period of time we are in, the basic nature of this song is to reduce the clutter in our lives and get back to what is important. When you are paying attention, you will learn that even the most basic of things can change our lives entirely. In this case, a song. I wonder how many people can say that this particular song changed their life in such a manner that they became better parents, friends, and lovers because of a simple reduction in material status. This coming from a guy who fights the urge for material omnipotence daily. But, I am learning that with "stuff" comes the requirement to care for the "stuff." Which means more time spent focusing on the things that are not important. I know this, and until recently, didn't take it seriously. I'm having a May garage sale if anyone is interested.

One of the things I have also noticed is the changes that my honey is going through. She has done a fantastic job in her efforts to quit smoking and will succeed, especially if she can survive the day we had out with the kids yesterday and not smoke. I can't say that it has been fun, but things will even out shortly. She's also been focusing more on her health, which considering the things I do to myself, I had better get on the wagon with her or i'm going to get left behind. I'm proud of her, and whether she realizes it or not, she is practicing the very basics of the song mentioned above. I commend her.

Funny how this all ties in together, and what's even funnier is my ability to ramble on endlessly about the most obvious of things. However, if I didn't think that it was important for people to have an occassional reminder about the simplicity of solving huge problems in their lives, I wouldn't bring it up. This in fact is a reminder to myself that things in my own life could be just a bit easier with a few minor changes. A person like me can't live too long with much clutter. It's overstimulating and clouds my ability to process simple thoughts and ultimately leads to frustration.

I bought into the Mega Millions pool the other day at work. While the thought of having a few million bucks to take some worries away, the itenerary set forth upon that fateful day would be a simple one. Tina and I were talking about it in the car yesterday. She had a tight grip on her frying pan. I tried to keep the car moving so she couldn't "bong" me. Anyway, I used to think that having a mega-home of royal proportions would be cool, but now I think I would just rather have a regular house and lots of land. In a house so large that you have to use an intercom to call people for dinner, it would sort of take away the close knit-ness of my family unit. As much as I don't want to hear my kids sometimes, I want to be able to hear my kids, know what they are doing, and not have time to hide. In fact, I am beginning to wonder if the house we are in now is too big. Or at least the wrong design.

Well, let me wrap up my coffee induced wordsmithing by just saying this. I've learned a lot about myself over the last several months, and realize that many of the solutions to my problems are so simple that to ignore them would be profoundly stupid. This change won't happen overnight, but I will join the wife in our efforts to "get back to the basics of love."