"It'll all work out, eventually", Tom Petty lyric, '09

"She wore faded jeans and soft black leather
She had eyes so blue they looked like weather
When she needed me I wasn't around
That's the way it goes, it'll all work out

There were times apart, there were times together
I was pledged to her for worse or better
When it mattered most I let her down
That's the way it goes, it'll all work out

It'll all work out eventually
Better off with him than here with me
It'll all work out eventually
Maybe better off with him than here with me

Now the wind is high and the rain is heavy
And the water's rising in the levee
Still I think of her when the sun goes down
It never goes away, but it all works out"

lyrics by Tom Petty

Somewhere along the line I wrote a letter to you that mentioned Colorado, a pickup truck and a dog, all in one breath. I was finishing up my day and was wondering where to go with my thoughts in regards to the particulars of that letter when once again Tom Petty rode up to the rescue and saved the day. I have learned over the years that life is filled with innumerable twists and turns, blindsides and pothots and heavenly bliss, stuff that you can't see and even if you do, can't quite count on, but in this case, what I see before me is a long stretch of road that shows no end. But, see, that's where long walks comes in, where good suppers and yard work and a freshly made bed all come to the aid of a man questioning his life. In the end all we can do is walk that road before us one step at a time, one day at a time. We work out the details as they come along. It all works out, eventually.

The Boy needs to make up his mind about the upcoming school year and where he wants to be in the fall. I put it out there to him this evening because it's his big decision to make, but also because I don't want to feel like a hotel keeper. People come and go out of our lives on a regular basis, so in some sense of the word I guess we're all hotel keepers, but if you taught me anything you taught me about the value of hard decisions, about the choices we make, about the value of all that coming and going. Right now I just want to know who's staying, and who's going.

Some folks come into our worlds, our lives, with high price tags attached and hard lessons to be learned. Sometimes that's up front, other times we can't see that price tag until it's deep into the transaction. Bed's been made, might as well sleep in it. But, see, no one said life was going to be easy. Coming and going is what life is all about, hell, as people it's what we're meant to do. Short run, this life, filled with all too many simple things that don't seem simple at all at the time. But decisions like where to go to school and where to sink down tubers and who you choose to love all seem to be that, simple, until you find out it's your life, and in many cases, your right to choose. No always, but quite a bit of the time. As far as love is concerned, not necessarily. But we make our choices then learn to live with those choices.

This afternoon before I fired up the bbq I sunk down dahlia tubers and realized that this life that I'm leading right now is what I chose for myself. My hard decisions, my choices, all lumped into one grand scheme of things that I still can't quite figure out yet. Maybe the answers lie along the side of that long road that I see before me. As Tom says, "it'll all work out, eventually". And baby, I believe it will, whether or not Colorado, a pickup truck and a dog have any say in the matter.

Your WHMB