Coyote Highway - October 22, 2005

It's very late, and I'm toolin' down the highway at break neck speeds on my way back from a performance in another world. Even though the horizon is rushing towards me, it never seems to move the way I would like it to: be here now. My feet are burning up from the heater, and I keep shuffling them around in an attempt to cool them off. It never occurs to me to turn down the heat. I smell like cigarette smoke and the radio is annoying me. So is my hair. It's been a long day.

I see something. Was that a coyote running across the road up ahead? Does Illinois have coyotes? A few miles down the road I see another, and still another. The last looked at me before turning into a mist of vapor. My eyes are playing tricks on me. This coffee isn't doing it. It tastes like bacon; I was grateful for the last cup in the pot at Road Ranger, and began wishing that I had a couple of eggs to go along with the coffee. Lots of miles to go.

Another coyote. Maybe I should pull over and rest my eyes. I think about tonight's performance. I had a really fun time. I truly felt like I had connected with a few people out there tonight. It's happening more and more. No more just throwing a song out and seeing who nibbles. We are all part of a larger thing"seeking the same thing from two different viewpoints.

While I was packing up at the end of the night two women approached me; an older and younger. The older woman made contact. She introduced me to her daughter and told me that her daughter wanted to meet me. She said that her daughter really loved my music and will come back to see me next week if I will come back. The whole time the daughter didn't say a word, but just stared a hole in me and smiled. That's ok. Later on she will think of things to say when she's in the controlled environment of her thoughts.

A moment later a waitress approached and shyly said "I really like your music"I mean I usually don't like the people who play here, but I really like your music." That was the nicest thing anyone had said to me all day, and there were some really nice people out there saying some really nice things. I noticed her while I was playing; I thought that she was supposed to be stationed by her waitress area, but now I realize that she had subliminally defected to audience side of life without her supervisor suspecting a thing. Good for her. I won't tell.

That's a beautiful thing--hey maybe that's why I am stranded in a steel box zipping down a stretch of road in the middle of the night. As I took another sip of cold bacon coffee, I had to slow down to avoid another phantom coyote. I asked myself "Well g-man was it worth this?"

"Hell yeah!" Rumbled my stomach.