How to Change Your Life, DMB Review, Time to Pack, Life is a Journey

“Travel changes you. As you move through this life and this world, you change things slightly; you leave marks behind, however small. And in return, life—and travel—leaves marks on you.”
— Anthony Bourdain

Well, hello, how are you?  I’m fine, thank you for asking, it’s a lovely fall day on top of the mountain.  We have one more day here before heading back East.  We’ve got a couple of excellent Air B and B’s to stay on our way; life is a journey, not a destination.  We wrapped up our retreat yesterday about noon; I had company in town, so I headed home I met our crew at Brooks Place Tavern.  If ever in Colorado, you must visit BPT, an iconic eatery of epic proportions.

We had a nice lunch, my wife and I enjoyed a Heiniken 0.0, the best NA beer on the market. Then, we got home, and I needed some rest; we had a big night ahead; I wanted to be sharp. So I laid down for a little bit, then got up and got ready to head to the show.  My friend Jay gave me some VIP parking, thank’s Jay.  Fiddlers Green is a theater in Denver, well south really, built in the office district; it’s a lovely venue with plenty of seats.  We went to old school for this show and hung out in the grass; for the first time in a long time, we enjoyed the general admission program. It was a blast.

We had Bay, me, my wife, Bay’s uncle Kyle, and his friend Doyle.  Before the show, their friend Charlie showed up; I think Charlie spent the night with us; it was a great crew, kind men that loved, I mean love Dave Matthews.  They are all Grateful Dead-like spinners with class and grace.  They know the words to every song.  

The crowd was packed; I’m thinking 20 thousand folks packed into a tiny little venue.  But yet, that asshole Tony is not sure if we can have Christmas with our families.  Fuck off, Tony. But I digress, I may have shared my wife, and I are doing sober in October; I must say I’m enjoying this respite.  I enjoy drinking at events; in the last seven days, I’ve had two concerts, a wedding, and a wedding reception.  All traditional times for me to consume some Devil’s nectar, but I always reset my liver and mind during October.

Instead of booze, I drink Gatoraid Zero, Clamato, and Heiniken 0.0.  The clarity is excellent; I read more and play the guitar more, it’s unusual to be the most responsible person in a group, but that is me this month.  I provide a friendly sober driver for my friends and then lean on them and UBER to get me where I need to go the rest of the year.

I should share I’ve seen Dave Matthews about ten times; he has become the soundtrack of my young adult life, the band has evolved over the years, but last night, I saw maybe the tightest band I’ve watched all year. So even if you do not like DMB, Paul, I’m talking to you, catch a show and be blown away by their exploration of their catalog.  It’s worth the time.

I did experience something as a sober person that I would like to call some attention.  I was thirsty about midway through the show; I got up and went to a vendor with lots of pop cans, lemonade, and ice tea and said, “Can I get an Arnold Palmer?”  The lovely lady said, “I’m sorry, Honey, we can’t see our mixers?” So I asked, “do you have anything non-alcoholic you can sell me?” So she sent me to the next tent; they had a water bottle as their only option; what do people who don’t drink at concerts?  Not my battle, but some of you sober folks need to start a political action committee and push for some N/A options!  I’ll help in October.

We headed home about 10:30 p.m., pulled in at 11:15, we were exhausted, all went to bed right away, I stayed up and read a chapter in my book, I was asleep by midnight and up at 7, seven hours is not a lot of sleep for this old dog, but I think I can survive.  It should be a light day of packing, errands, getting ready to head east.

Another good week in the books, one of our agents hit another home run, the rest of the team was on cruise control; it’s ok; next week, I expect the team to bounce back and get on the sales train.  It’s nice to have a team; it takes the pressure off each individual to know that it’s ok to have an off week; someone else can pick you up.

I’m excited to see my family; I will get to see my granddaughter; our youngest daughter called yesterday and gave us some excellent news.  I would have shared this morning but was told to hold off for a spell; I will be sharing some great information in the coming days; I’m so proud of all our children.

I’m going to find an excellent audible book to download on our way home.  We listened to Green Lights’ last trip home, Positive Intelligence, on the way back to Colorado.  The drive is an excellent way to feed our minds with new ideas and concepts.   Speaking of good books, I suggested, and the view was accepted, that my men’s group take Jordan Peterson’s 12 rules for life, and we use that as a guidebook for 2022.

Someone call Kevin Bacon; I have a story.  Kyle and I were on the deck enjoying the view yesterday; he asked where I was from; I shared Beautiful Parker City, Indiana, about 10 miles east of Muncie.  He said he had a good friend from Muncie by the name of Mike Martin.  He was a guitarist and now split time between Muncie and the Carolina’s. So I did my best Mike Martin gravely voice impression, and he looked up shocked. “You know Mike?”  I took a photo of Kyle, my daughter’s soon-to-be uncle, and sent a picture to Mike.  He fired back, “no way! Kyle!”  It is now, I have to, but I do not want to say, “it’s a small world.”

Well, there you have it, the happenings and day-to-day adventures of a 52-year-old white guy.  My charge from my wife this morning is I’m on bacon duty.  I like making bacon; most men my age enjoy making bacon; I’ll leave that right there.  I hope you are enjoying your life, don’t take everything so seriously; sweat the small stuff so you can deal with the big stuff, don’t be mean, be kind, and karma will provide a life you once could only dream.

“Travel changes you. As you move through this life and this world, you change things slightly; you leave marks behind, however small. And in return, life—and travel—leaves marks on you.”
— Anthony Bourdain