August 3, 2016

I've had several "ear worms" since I've been on the road, not that having them is a new experience for me. I used to be plagued by people's names as ear worms - mostly foreign, and frequently Butrous Butrous-Ghali in the 1990s, but never Kofi Annan or Ban Ki-moon after he left office. I have a rather vast and eclectic taste in music which is only relatively current in the Alternative genre, but is unfortunately, and largely, centered on the 1970’s pop. Fortunately, the ear worms typically don’t arise as the result of recent listening. For example, Kate and I had a disco sing-along one night, but the lyrics largely dissipated within hours and therefore didn’t plague me. Recently, Dawes' "A Little Bit of Everything,” Eminem's "Lose Yourself," and Tim McGraw's "Live Like You Were Dying" have been worming. Added together, I get this: don’t allow the accumulated “little things” to break you, carpe diem, and don’t say “someday.” This is my modus operandi in three tracks.

When Kim left, he asked me if I was looking forward to being alone again. I think he asked it because the three of us just shared less than 200 square feet of living space for over two weeks, and because I am a control freak who has lived alone for seven years. It was a Sophie’s Choice question because I both enjoy their company and being alone. I'm unwilling to cast a comparative judgment on the difference, just like I've become unwilling to say that a day of cleaning or work is worse than a day on the Beartooth Scenic Byway: each day of my days is different from the others, and while my “Beartooth” days are likely to be more interesting to other people, all my days are interesting to me.

However, the question presents an alternative Sophie’s Choice between resuming my new “normal” life and being on vacation. Being with Kim and Kate was a vacation for me: the Beartooth Scenic Byway, Big Sky, Bozeman, Butte, Chico Hot Springs, Flathead Lake (privately, by air, boat and car), Glacier National Park, Livingston, Missoula, The National Bison Range, Triple Creek Ranch, Yellowstone National Park, and the Yellowstone River (by kayak and camel). What struck me the most while I was with them is how much easier it was to enjoy “vacationing” when there was no dread arising from the return to "normal" life. Perhaps that is why people look forward to retirement – something to which I’ve never aspired – because there is no return to “normal” life. Why don't people like their “normal” lives more than they do? Why do they live their lives in “when” and “if only” mode? Perhaps “people” should listen to my soundtrack.

​According to OPB, it is illegal in Yamhill to leave one's cellar door open for an extended period.