Date: 2005-03-01
To: Cowboy Music and More Memories
Miles today: 0.0

The ol' Double DiamondLay out east of DuboisIn the land of the buffaloAnd the auctioner's gavelIt rapped and it rattledAs I watched the ol' Double Diamond goAnd won't you listen to the windMother Nature's violinWhen I first hired onAt the ol' Double DiamondI was a damn poor excuse for a manI never learned how to aimWhile my spirt was tameI didn't know all the cards in my handAnd the wind whipped the granite above meAnd blew the tumbleweeds clean through my soulWell, I fought her wintersAnd I busted her horsesI took more than I thought I could standBut the battles with the mountains and the cattleWill bring out the best in a manI guess a sailor needs an oceanAnd a mama, her babies to holdBut I need the plains of WyomingIn the land of the buffaloBut now she's sellin' outAnd I'm movin' onBut I'm leaving with more than I came'Cause I got this ponyAnd he ain't for saleAnd I've got this song to singI've got a new range to findI've got a new knot to tieIn a country where cowboys are kingWe turned tails to the windAt the ol' Double DiamondAnd took off down through the sageAnd won't you listen to the windMother Nature's violinThis song completely strikes a nerve in me every time that I here it, partially because of the slow sweeping music it uses to convey its message, and partially because of the amazing lyrics that seem as if they are directed actually towards me as I listen to them, no matter what else is going on and where I may be at the moment.It comforts me like a mother comforting a child, and I feel that I have come a long way every time I hear, and I am once again confirmed in my decisions that I have made up to this point, and it encourages me to hold strong into the future as well. This song actuates the message that, what doesn¢t affect you five years from now, isn¢t really that important.I think this song more than anything is a testament to the fact that pride in ourselves as individuals is a key ingredient in our happiness and peace, and as long as we push ourselves to become better, we shall be free.The first verse in this song that really speaks to me is,When I first hired onAt the ol' Double DiamondI was a damn poor excuse for a manI never learned how to aimWhile my spirit was tameI didn't know all the cards in my handI love the fact he says he is a poor excuse for a man. It makes me proud to know that I am not easy on myself, and it encourages me to continue to do so in the future. I feel that people who are hard are themselves, generally find that they have much more pride than people who take the easy way out. It aids me in realizing that I need to continue to do things I don¢t want to do, if they are necessary and that eventually those things will be over and life will be better. (Fortunately, I know that at least in the near future, my hard work has paid off, and that it will be smooth sailing now that I have graduated and I¢ve saved up so much money for the trail, but I also know I can push myself to accomplish big goals, which gives me more pride and happiness! It really is an upward snowball effect¢¦)The same goes for the next verse with the line that states, ¢I took more than I though I could stand¢. Almost three years ago, after I moved back to Louisville, I never thought I could finish school and keep my current job. I came back to Louisville and started attending Indiana University Southeast, which is right across the river and I totally bombed most of my classes. My grades were terrible and my job was even harder and I never thought that I would be able to maintain my desk job, since I was used to I job that I loved before that and I hated being indoors. Well, push came to shove and I knew I had a choice that I could either succeed or fail, and so I decided to attend Sullivan University the next quarter, and I continued to persevere in my job and continue to get through it, because I knew it was an opportunity to get great sales experience, and even if I didn¢t enjoy it at the moment, I might regret not doing it in the future. Now, years later, I am graduating with a 3.85 GPA with honors and I stuck with my job, even though it was hard. I would definitely say that I took more than I thought I could stand. I remember nights where I would be talking to my friend, Stephanie and I would say that I didn¢t see any way that I could take it any longer, and that was two years ago and I am still here, and now I¢ll be leaving this stage in life with pride. I made it, and I am proud and happy.Another completely different message I get from this song is that we must cherish the memories that we have, and not be scared to let the past go. I learned this message this summer when my house burned down.When my house burned down, we lost almost everything that we have, and now all we have from the past for the most part is memories. We saved a few items, and we are lucky to have them, but I learned that anything on this earth is indefinite, and we must have the ability to move on. People would say the typical, ¢At least no one was hurt¢. And that is the truth, but what no one could understand that hasn¢t lost everything, is that your entire tangible history is lost. Sure, you get to buy another kitchen table, but there are great and fond memories attached to things that are lost like kitchen tables and couches and walls and clothes, and they can all be gone in the time it takes a bolt of lightening to flash. My senior quote in High School was, ¢Every new beginning comes from some other beginning¢s end¢, which came from a popular song at the time, but that quote, simple as may be, holds more truth than I could have ever realized.I will keep on pushing myself, because I have got a long way to go, and I know that in the future I'll probably look at myself and think back on how much I needed to improve in my life and how little I really knew at that/this moment in time. This song provides me an outlet though, to remind me in a powerful form, of the future and all I have to learn. I won't take the easy way out, and I will do my best. This song was written by, Gary McMahan, and is performed by, Chris LeDoux on ¢The Capitol Collection¢ box set.