Dear Friends,
With a heavy heart, I have to write about my old friend, Lance L. On Friday night, my buddy, Will, messaged me and shared an article from AzCentral. Apparently, Lance (not my old bandmate and brother, Lance H) killed his parents and then turned the gun on himself. I was shocked to find this out.
Lance and I were not close and hadn’t talked for years, but he was someone I had admired for his musical talent, honesty, and wit. He was interesting and intense and good music just sort of oozed out of him. I loved his band, Seven Storey Mountain, and he and I spoke many times about jamming together at some point. Now, “some point” will never come.
It’s hard to write these things because I can’t condone killing and suicide, but I am so curious about what happened and what drove him to that place. It just makes me sad. I hope the other folks out there who cared about the three of them are doing as well as possible under these circumstances.
It just feels so weird to even think about it/him. I want to listen to his music and then again, I don’t. Maybe someday.
*****
Got pulled over yesterday in Missouri after leaving the Uranus Fudge Factory. I didn’t yield to a police officer who had pulled over someone on the side of the road. Apparently when you are in Missouri and there is a police car on the side of the road with its lights on, you have to move over a lane.
Damn. Now I know.
It was a long road day. Just under 800 miles. We had a good day, but it was long. Luckily, the days only get shorter from here on out.
The boys have been great. Liam and Q are great traveling companions and have helped manage Bailey quite a bit. Without them in the car, I am sure Bailey would have spent quite a bit of time trying to figure out how to sit on my lap. Even with her mild doggie downer, she has still managed to get a little worked up from time to time.
Our morning started off really nice, though, yesterday with a beautiful sunrise over the Texas terrain. The earth is so flat (yes, Kyrie, I said the earth is flat) in that area of the world that the sun was just sort of peeking up over the horizon, getting larger and larger as we got closer to it.
We got our asses out of Texas in a hurry and found our way into Oklahoma, which is always nice. I’m not sure why I like Oklahoma, but I do. After spending about $13 in tolls, we were in Missouri and it’s rolling, green hills. We hit the world’s largest gift shop where Bailey proceeded to take a huge dump. That’s two years in a row in almost the same place behind the gift shop, which is huge, that she emptied her bowels.
The boys didn’t find anything in the gift shop which amazed me. It has a great selection of stuff that you wouldn’t expect to find in the middle of Missouri. If you’re into pop culture, that’s a place you have to go. I bought a game for the Rangeley house.
Then we went to Uranus. They have the best t-shirts there and we sampled some fudge, too. I haven’t eaten my piece yet, but Liam gobbled his in about ten minutes. Q and I showed restraint. I got a piece of Heath Bar fudge. It looks fucking decadent and might put me in a diabetic coma.
After getting the ticket, we drove passed the St. Louis Arch and headed into Illinois where we spent the night. Muggy is the word for western Illinois.
*****
We’re off to Indiana, Ohio, and Pennsylvania today. Hopefully we will see some friends in Ohio and then get to the lake by sunset. I can’t wait for the boys to see it.
See you tomorrow.
If you look in the back window, you can see the police car. Bailey was not impressed. The heavy, humid air is giving my hair the business, too.
A fudge shop in Uranus...did the guy behind the counter claim to be probed by an alien?