JymalotMusic

December 6, 2008

How about that time thing?  Tick-tock, never stops, all of us running like crazy to keep it from leaving us behind.  Yet, there it goes!

I’ve gotten into a lot of this and that since last we talked.  The this would include having been pushed around, lied to, tripped up, deceived, manipulated, stepped on, over and around, back-stabbed, wrecked, confused, misled, left behind, disregarded, disrespected, ignored, used and made a fool of.  The that would include a message received and an act of charity that found me.

A year ago, I was winding down on the working for state government thing, and that’s a done deal.  I can now stay at home and get the same money I used to go to work for everyday.  My neighbor calls that “mailbox money.”  So, now I can jet ski or ride the party barge on, like, Tuesday.   Or go drink a daiquiri at noon on Thursday.  Or sleep til 7 on Monday.  People keep asking, “well, what are you gonna do?”  I always say, “Whatever.”

Some of that “whatever” will be spending more time with the band.  You’ll notice there’s a recent Press Release on the website announcing the release of a new CD called, “At Home.”  It’s been called my best work.  Well, I’m not gonna argue with the great-looking girl that told me that!  At any rate, I hope to be productive in the studio in the coming year.  I have about two dozen songs stockpiled, so, even with the recent release, I intend to not take a long break and get to work recording those stockpiled tunes.

Some more of that “whatever” will be spending more time with some old friends of mine, I hope.   This past year, I kinda reunited with two childhood friends, Billy and Dave, and I’ve been having the most fun hanging out with them and their wives.  We go boat riding, get loaded, listen to music, get loaded, drink and get loaded.  (If you are a Special Agent for the DEA, I’m just joking about the getting loaded thing.)  Once, late one evening, I did a live set of about 10 songs for them, which they seemed to like some of.   ‘Course, they were ummm, mellow at the time, and easily pleased. 

Dave has been in the hospital lately, but he’s making a comeback.  We’ll get together again soon.

Hey, you should see my truck!  One day, driving home, middle of the afternoon, I fell asleep.  Asleep.  Dreaming and all.  Dreamed my truck could fly, fly like an eagle, gliding effortlessly, floating, floating on a white, fluffy cloud….. only I wasn’t dreaming, I was sliding off the road, down in a ditch.  I woke up as I started hitting trees.  Six trees.  Bam!  Bam!   Both airbags exploded.  The side of my truck ripped apart.  Shattered glass in my lap.  A nice oak tree finally stopped me.

I was so disoriented, it took a minute to figure out what the hell just happened.  Oh, shit, look at my beautiful truck.  Ruined.  I think to myself, stuck there in the ditch, I am so gonna get a ticket when a cop comes along.  Somehow, someway, the truck started, and somehow, someway, got the hell outta that ditch and got home.  Only then did I take the time to assess the damage to the truck…and to me! 

Me?  Not a scratch.  Remarkable.  I’m lucky that way.  The truck, not so lucky.  Looks like a disaster.  I put clear plexiglass in place of the glass that shattered, and I only have one door that works.   But you know what?  It drives better than it did before the wreck.  For real.  Before the wreck, it kinda had a wobble, vibration about 50 or 55 mph.  Not now.  Smooth.  And the dash light was out.  Works now.   Still, the band has promised to buy me a new truck next month.

Did you hear about the hurricanes this past September?  Gustave and Ike.  Well, they both came to my house.  OMG!   Tore up my roof (which was expertly replaced by Cribbs, Inc…. people look up to their craftsmanship), but the worst was the flooding.  The river came up a good five feet.  When the water went back down, it left behind a million dead fish in my yard.  Oh, the smell.  But I took care of it.  I cranked up the lawnmower and mowed ‘em.  Yes, I did.

Electricity was out for a couple of weeks, so the people on my street would take turns cooking all the stuff in their fridges, and everybody would get together and eat and drink.  One hot and muggy night, I did a few Jymalot Music tunes for the neighborhood crowd.  Without cable, they were easily entertained.

Yep, it’s been a year to remember.  But you know the most important event that occurred this past year?  It was the lesson I’ve learned, the message I’ve gotten.  For all these events remind me that the clock keeps ticking, no matter what.  And the time spent wasting eight hours a day with people to whom I mean nothing, the time I missed sharing with people that care about me like Dave and Billy, the close call in my truck, the wicked storms, they all remind me to live out my moments.  ‘Cause me and you, we only have so many.  And time will, absolutely, positively never stop and will, certainly, leave us behind. 

Oh, yeah.  That act of charity that found me?  Love.

 

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PS...... This letter to you guys didn't get posted on time, so, here it is, the summer of 2009.   The band keeps pounding out CDs, so you will find among the Press Releases announcements for two more CDs, "Same Difference," and "It's All Good."  I recommend  'em both.  And, by the way, the band lived up to the promise and replaced the wrecked truck.... with a big, black, shiny Hummer.  It's pretty cool.  I drove it to Amelia Island, off the east coast of Florida, in the Atlantic, with my girlfriend where WE GOT MARRIED!  Ohhh, yeah.........

So, the bride and me, we are back home, really tanned.

And in this same period of time, as yet another reminder not to waste any (tick, tock), my oldest friend, Dave, he didn't make it.  Sadly, he lost the fight he was in, and he was a tough man.  A day won't go by that I will not think about him.