Today I spent the whole day alone in solace and solitude. It is January third in the brand New Year of our Lord, Two Thousand and FIVE, and by next week at this time I will be back to singing with the Boys.
Our little vacation time will be over. Just like that, my singing partners and I will be up to our eyeballs in planning meetings, music meetings, recording sessions, and getting a real good start on the new American Journey Tour, which will be coming your way before the year is over, no matter where you live!
But today is just a nothing day for me. I drove out to my farm late last night, woke up early, and started the day by playing a bit of Banjo. One can play loud and long in the midst of a nothing day........ especially when there is no other human being within three miles. Can you say........ “Clinch Mountain Backstep with an up the neck break?” Yeeeeeeeeeee!
I then spent a couple of hours working on my new novel, which may either end up as a best seller or it might stay right here on my hard drive. One never knows about these things for certain. This little book is about a lone wolf Special Ops soldier by the name of Barlow and is more of a romance than a story of war. There is a good dose of magic mixed in, as well.
I am a long way from completing this little epic, which was born on our recent Christmas tour in a moment of lonely imaginings. The story, when complete, could just end up as a mere steppingstone in the creative process. In other words no one may care about my characters, therefore the entire work has a chance to exist as only a good dose of practice writing........ I can live with that.
After I caught up with John Barlow for a while, I went to work on some Christmas Songs I am trying to write. Christmas Morning, The One, and an old one called Uncle Luther Made The Stuffing, which I am redoing with a Bluegrass feel. Surprise. Surprise.
I felt I had written some good stuff on these tunes, but nothing great had really manifested itself so far, so I aborted the laptop and the old “banjer” and proceeded to head on outside, where I would spend the rest of the day........ doing nothing.
It rained lightly, off and on, but I was undeterred in my quest to clear my mind and just enjoy the quietness of my little piece of God’s Earth, which He has so graciously lent to me.
I walked for miles. I sat alone by the creek. I spent an hour sitting in my upper barn watching it rain. I sat by a pond for an hour, and then I walked some more.
I saw seven mourning doves on three different occasions and this bothered me. There should have been eight. These timid birds are always in pairs that stay together forever, and when they flock together........ the number is always an even one. How did number #8 meet his end? I wondered.
How do any of us meet our end? On the other side of the world right now there are over 155,000 bodies who met their end in the fierce upheaval of a force way bigger than any of us.
What a staggering number of souls going home at one time.
Hard for us to imagine the enormity of this loss of human life unless we were there. Otherwise, it just looks kind of like something on television. I wish that it were just some obscure TV show, but the horror and loss are all too real.
May God bless all of them!
It would seem that just one missing dove caused this flood of thought and prayer on this nothing day. The mind and heart evolve and just open up sometimes. How wonderful it is to roll with that flow and allow the juices of emotion or the wine of enlightenment to fill your cup to overflowing. It can only happen to you in moments like this, when you are quiet and willing to listen. God speaks to us all of the time, but all of the time we are not paying attention.
I have had “nothing days” many times in my life. Sometimes spent on a beach staring at the ocean for hours on end. Sometimes anchored in a cove on the lake just watching the sunset.
As the sun goes down this evening, I have retired once again to my laptop in order to write down these few thoughts. My Mary will join me tomorrow, and we will knock down some cedar trees and clean up some flood debris from a few pastures, unless it really rains. Then we will do something else.
However today........ and tonight........ I am alone with my thoughts and my music and my musings, and I am very happy and content in my own personal skin.
Each and every moment is a precious gift from God that is not taken for granted by your writer. Each breath I take is one more adventure in this vapor of life that the book of James says is passing by, oh, so very quickly.
There is plenty of time for moving and shaking and being busy, my friends. We all have much to do in this busy world. A good thing. Hard work and personal responsibility are important and can be very gratifying. For me, I am anxious and excited about all of the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead in this New Year, and I anticipate quite a bit of hard work!
But remember, once in a great while, or as often as you can........ it is so very important........ to get away.
To be alone.
To reflect.
To pray.
To focus.
To appreciate.
To love.
I have come to enjoy these moments more than ever, because I have grown to realize that these kind of Nothing Days........ are really SOMETHING!
God Bless (JSB)