I just did something I haven’t done in…well, I can’t remember the last time. I took two weeks’ vacation.
I spent about 6 years living in the Phoenix, AZ area - 1999 to 2005 (maybe 2006). I met my wife there, and made the closest, best friends I’ve ever had. Furthermore, my mother lives in CA on just the other side of the AZ/CA border. I haven’t seen those friends or my mom in a decade.
And that’s why I went.
I planned to drive from WI to AZ, then to CA, and then to the Seattle, WA area because some of the friends I made in AZ now live near Seattle. I made the drive to AZ with no problem, but bloody hell. It wore me out. So, I checked plane fares, found something reasonable, and flew to Settle for a few days, then back to Phoenix, and drove back home to WI. Honestly, I should’ve just flown, as many - including my wife - advised. But, some things I have to learn the hard way. Lots of things, actually.
Still, it was a wonderful trip that did me a world of good. It’s given me resolve to make overdue changes in my life. It remains to see whether or not I actually follow through, but as I type this, I have every intention of doing so.
One of my best friends pitched me hard on moving back to AZ, going so far as to offer me a job. If I was single and living on my own, I probably would. But I have my wife to consider and we love our home, and I fucking HATE moving. Still, I can’t properly express how wonderful it is to be around people I value for the first time in 10 years and have it feel as though we were never apart.
And I picked the right time to go. My area of WI had record lows just a few days before I returned, and we had frozen pipes in spite of my wife leaving water running all night. We didn’t get running water back until early Sat morning, and then we had a broken pipe. It was easily repaired by a plumber Sunday morning, so it could have been much worse.
Work continues on my next batch of songs, and I still need to pick a distributor for Love Songs & Lullabies.
That’s it for now. Value your friendships and honor those relationships.