Date: 2005-05-15
From: Damascus

To: Saunders Shelter
Miles today: 9.4
Weather: moderate rain

8:26pm - All I'm Thinkin' AboutIt's been awhile since I last updated my journal. It's been a hectic six days. We reached Damascus last Tuesday afternoon as expected. Professor and Vapors hit up Dots while I called home to arrange a shuttle to Marion. My Dad answered the phone: "Plans have changed and not for the better." My grandmother passed away on Sunday afternoon. The funeral was scheduled for Thursday. We settled on a plan - we'd drive up to New York on Wednesday and drive back Thursday night, allowing me to still make Trail Days.Even with an impending trip the next day, my parents offered to let Vapors and Professor stay at our place, an offer that was quickly accepted. We had a spiedie feast that evening after a round of showers for all. We topped the evening off by heading to the Abingdon Cinemall to watch "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy." The theater is my favorie I've ever been to, and I was pleased to see they've put in a minigolf course. The movie, unfortunately, was a bit uneven. It had a lot of hysterical parts, but the plot was very convoluted and very involving.Denton, a friend of the family, volunteered to shuttle our houseguests back to Damascus. We left shortly after them but in the opposite direction. It was the first time in years my whole family has taken an extended trip together. It was just like old times, I slept a lot.We arrived in New York and went over to an uncle's house, where a lot of my Dad's brothers had gathered to arrange some poster boards for Grandma Ruth's funeral. It was good to see everybody again, though I wish the circumstances had been different. Still, I couldn't help but feel that the timing was uncanny. I had arrived in Damascus a day early which allowed me to attend a funeral hundreds of miles away without falling impossibly behind the group with which I was hiking.The funeral was nice - well, as nice as a funeral can be. It was followed by a luncheon and a brief graveside service, for which I served as a pall bearer. Afterwards, we went to Aunt Terry's for a while. I always enjoy visiting with her and her family, and this time was no exception.Then came the drive - hundreds of miles rolled by through the night as my Dad, Jeni (my sister), and I switched off shifts. We arrived home just before 5 am. I collapsed in my bed, grabbing a few precious hours of sleep. When I awoke, I finally caught up on a lot of little details I had run out of time for before leaving - taxes, medical insurance, and other such trivialities. I went to town, mailed off my still non-functional microphone to the manufacturer, purchased groceries and bought the new Springsteen album at long last. Back at home, I packed up, squared things off, and took the keys to the Jeep. With Bruce blasting from the speakers, I was finally on my way to Trail Days.It's getting dark and late, so I'll hold off on Trail Days until tomorrow's entry. But Bruce is important enough to discuss now. I found the new album to be a curious mix of Tom Joad-esque bleak accoustic songs (Reno, The Hitter, Matamoras Banks) mixed with up tempo, hopeful country songs (Maria's Bed, Long Time Coming, All I'm Thinkin' About), I like the songs a lot, but it'll probably take a few more listens before the album really clicks. It's odd to have a Bruce album driven more by a thematic sound rather than a common lyrical subject. It's also strange to hear him releasing a few songs that have been around for over a decade (All the Way Home, Long Time Coming, and The Hitter), recycling lyrics from already released songs (Maria's Bed contains portions of Further On Up the Road), and also reusing some melodies (Devils and Dust seems to borrow from both Blood Brothers and Dead Man Walking). But the music is great, and I love the slide guitar backed by a swinging country band. Right now, with daylight fading, it's all I'm thinkin' about.