my soul began to rise

I'll write of things with help from Bob Seger.

It was a lazy sunday afternoon and Garrett was heading out for a drive in his car. I hopped along for the ride and we drove out of town with the tops down on his car, the cold air rushing in our faces as I tightened my faded baseball hat over my head and watched garrett man his vehicle into the mountains above walla walla. I had the good foresight to put on Bob Seger's Greatest Hits for the drive and with the soundtrack of men on the road journeying along the highways of life, the air roared in my ears and I fell into a trance.

And we rolled
And we rolled clean out of sight
We rolled across the high plains
Deep into the mountains
Felt so good to me
Finally feelin' free

I opened up my wallet and saw my 16 year old face staring back at me, I looked into the mirror and saw a bearded, older version of that same man staring at me. I have been in college for over three years now, my face looks different, my brain has been changed, clearly we are always remnants of our past selves, we carry a physical and mental museum of ourselves along with us everyday even as we change into things new and unforseen. Some people drag around more exhibits than others.

Garrett and I stared down from the mountains on this Sunday, a clear, quintissentially crisp winter day. The Walla Walla Valley spread out below us as we pointed out familiar landmarks to each other. Then we were in Oregon.

out past the cornfields where the woods got heavy
out in the backseat of my sixty chevy
workin on mysteries without any clues
ain't it funny how the night moves

What things are universal? Certainly not much beyond science. But if I myself am one universe then certain truths have always existed for as far as memory can hold. One is that if I can remove either symbolically or physically from a situation and be conscience of that, reflection becomes inevitable. Whether it's a hike up a peak to overlook a valley or a drive along some dusty country roads it's easy to ponder the things close at hand with just a hint of perspective. Soon my journey will depart from these parts, but a permanent exhibit will be erected in my museum of these times, as a face changed and a man grew (and regressed).

And sometimes late at night
When I'm bathed in the firelight
The moon comes callin' a ghostly white
And I recall
I recall

There is too much talk of ends and not enough of beginnings. I am 21 years old and god-willing I will live another 60 years if not more. So much is ahead of me that I cannot comprehend the days of true reflections, dead dreams, faded youth and beauty. I stand arrow straight, poised just like anyone who has ever lingered at the edge of stage before breathing deeply and plunging onward, points of no return.

There's no way you can hide
The fire inside
There's no way you can deny
The fire inside

My heart was singing roll me away as I opened my eyes and realized I had fallen asleep in the passenger seat of Garrett's car. "Man you must be so tired, you conked out," Garrett said. I wasn't tired at all, I just needed a break from the moment that I live in constantly and sadly or not, the use of this brain power required the loss of some consciousness. We cruised through the dilapidated streets of Milton Freewater, an odd evocation of the 1950's sung to me as the mountains faded away in the side view mirror I had been staring into.

Garrett parked back at the Monstro and by now Tom Petty was playing. The wind in our faces had died down.

livin to run and runnin to live
watch the young men running
I'm still runnin against the wind
let the cowboys ride

Let the cowboys fuckin ride.