"When morning comes twice a day..."

Today I learned something about this amazingly northern part of the Americas. It starts to get light around 3:15 am. 3:15! for crikey sakes. How do I know this? I stayed at Willie Nelson's 4th of July picnic til the bitter end. At the Gorge Amphitheatre, 240 miles from my domicile. It didn't end until midnight. Didn't know I'm a willie fan? Well I'm not really, but the old guy might kick it any day and even at 73 he has a lovely voice. And his teenage looking son wasn't half bad either. But I was really there for Son Volt. And they were put in AFTER Amos Lee, Drive By Truckers, and Old 97s. Which is cool because last time I saw them play with Drive By Truckers, Son Volt opened. Unfortunately yesterday the crowd was all anxious for the old geezer (just one more band! I overheard some lardball bemoan), but it didn't stop me from hootin' and hollerin' and singing along.

At the end of "move it on over" about the hot dog replacing the cold dog, I decided that I like my music the way I like my men: complex.

I managed to cheat the night a little by sleeping at a rest stop that couldn't come soon enough; there is an additional rest stop southbound near Lynnwood but the highway folks couldn't be as nice to the northbound travelers and I had to go all the way past Marysville. But I want to know why it is my bladder is WAY more sensitive and alert to the slightest amount of fluid in there when a. I'm driving and b. trying to sleep in my car? And it's not like a van with easy horizontal access; it's duck under the flap, find somewhere semi comfortable for my feet that are too long for that back section, avoid whatever light source is peeking in through the cracks. And try to fall asleep before one of the individual body parts does.

The nice thing about WA rest stops is they have snacks for you, just waiting! And coffee! All by donation. I had a lovely slice of poppyseed cake with underwhelming coffee, but hey it was THERE and it was FREE. God bless America.

The only other band that will keep me out late on a school night.

Arrive late, park close, sit in chair through opener, hog front and center stage in a smoke free bar with nice ambiance, with a musician playing his guitar in your face and the lead singer a foot away. How does it get any better than that? My favorite band, Son Volt, kicked off their tour supporting their new CD release, Searching, right here in Bellingham. So I didn't know any of the new songs, no one did, it just came out. But they broke into their old favorites after awhile. That close, the sound kind of sucks and you have to wear ear plugs, but to be that close? Closest I've ever felt to being a groupie. It's even worth feeling a bit brain dead today. One of these days, I'll catch up on sleep...

Some lyrics for y'all...

::Still Be Around::

I don't see you through the windshield
I don't see you in faces looking back at me
Alcohol doesn't have much that matters to say
Can't imagine where you and time to kill will stay

When the bible is a bottle
And the hardwood floor is home
When morning comes twice a day or not at all
If I break in two will you put me back together?
When this puzzle's figured out will you still be around
To say you've just been there
Walking the line upside down

Walked and breathed many a cancerous mile
Where the bat of an eye is too slow to beat the coffin
They won't tell it on the TV
They can't say it on the radio
They pay to move it off the shelf and into our minds
Until you can't tell the truth
When it's right in front of your eyes

When the bible is a bottle
And the hardwood floor is home
When morning comes twice a day or not at all
If I break in two will you put me back together?
When this puzzle's figured out will you still be around
To say you've just been there
Walking the line upside down