More thoughts from a Charlotte Airport

Alas! I think one of the best sounds in the world is returning to the sweet, sunny South, and hearing some lady in the airport say "ya'll" or "sweetie". That's always my reminder that I'm truly home. I caught a few hours sleep in the middle of 2 fat guys on the plane and then a few more hours on this hear bench, man. Furthermore, I am wondering if this Starbucks frapaloochiewoochie has any caffeine

Back to what I was saying last night about closure. So there I was, somewhere in between Yreka and Callahan. I was "going down the road feeling bad" and trying to make sense of it all. As usual, I was trying to make deeper connections that what appeared on the surface. Sometimes it all there, waiting for you to to put it together. Sometimes you get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right.. I borrowed a couple of Mr. Thamer's old Dick's Pick's dead shows the other day. I popped in disc one of the Europe 72' show, and I listened to Jerry sing me my answer right then and there....(NOTE: My roomate at The Citadel from the last 2 years and most badass dude I know, Brian Hilpisch, used the CAPITALIZED lyrics from this song as his senior quote. I'll never forget the night he read it to me. I smiled smiled smiled, knowing that we walked on THIN ice all 4 years, and came out high and smiling. You gotta infiltrate the system to change the system, or at least that is the way I used to look at it. I donated the 2 mattresses from my van into Brent's bus. He said that when he tried to sleep in the hammock, he always woke up on the floor. Since we did all the work to haul the mattresses up there on the 4 wheeler, we figured we'd enjoy the fruits of our labor and sleep on the bus. We were sitting there before bed, talking about The Citadel. I told him about how I think about it every single day of my life and miss that hell hole, very badly. Here we were, living what we had dreamed about for 4 whole years. We were as far away from that place as you could possibly get, in Nor Cal, on a bus, on a hill. Brent said, "Dude, I know, me too man! It's weird. You just cannot explain it to people. We both talked about the freaks, the geaks, the heads, the guys we always thought weren't human, the fatasses, The machines, The generals, the sneaking out, the nights you sat in your room, cursing that place at the top of your lungs, wondering why you were ironing creases in your pants on a friday night at 11:00 p.m....I'll never forget the following statement. Brent paused for a long time, looked around to make sure no one was listening, quieted his voice and came closer to me. He said, "Dude, I really miss studying......" Right on brother, right on.

HE'S GONE LYRICS

Rat in a drain ditch, caught on a limb, you know better but I know him.
Like I told you, what I said, Steal your face right off your head.

Now he's gone, now he's gone, Lord he's gone, he's gone.
Like a steam locomotive, rollin' down the track
He's gone, gone, nothin's gonna bring him back...He's gone.

Nine mile skid on a ten mile ride, hot as a pistol but cool inside.
CAT ON A TIN ROOF, DOGS IN A PILE,
NOTHIN' LEFT TO DO BUT SMILE SMILE SMILE!

Now he's gone, now he's gone Lord he's gone, he's gone.
Like a steam locomotive, rollin' down the track
He's gone, gone, nothin's gonna bring him back...He's gone.

Goin' where the wind don't blow so strange,
Maybe off on some high cold mountain chain.
Lost one round but the price wasn't anything,
A knife in the back and more of the same.

Same old, rat in a drain ditch, caught on a limb,
You know better but I know him.
Like I told you, what I said,
Steal your face right off your head.

Now he's gone, now he's gone Lord he's gone, he's gone.
Like a steam locomotive, rollin' down the track
He's gone, gone, nothin's gonna bring him back...He's gone.

Ooh, nothin's gonna bring him back.