I was watching television the other day and was very excited to hear an old song by the band, Cake, during a commercial break. The commercial was for the new iPod Nano. Now as we all know, iPod commercials run on every station 1,000 times a day for months on end, and since I love Cake, I’m very happy for them…enjoy the residual income, guys!
They have a bunch of great songs, all of which sound extraordinarily original. A couple years ago when we were doing We Need Each Other – The Tour with Tenth Avenue North and Vota, some of them and some of us would get together during soundcheck and try to play Cake songs. “Stickshifts and Safety Belts,” “The Distance,” and the song in the commercial, “Short Skirt/Long Jacket.” They’re all really hard to play.
This got me to pondering, as I’m prone to do. The general message of “Short Skirt/Long Jacket” has an interesting and similar message to Proverbs 31:10-31. Read the passage here. You know scripture…it’s about the girl that every guy in youth group is praying they’ll marry. I’ll concede that Cake’s idea of “the wife of noble character” might be slightly different than yours or mine or King Lemuel’s. After all, Cake’s ideal woman is cruising to work in a white Chrysler Lebaron. Mine is not. And King Lemuel’s ideal woman is considering buying a field, so she’s probably driving a John Deere.
Basically I was just curious what people thought of this comparison. Do you think they’re similar or am I taking crazy pills? Women, how do you feel about the song and the scripture? Men, same question. I’m kind of expecting different answers, but honestly have no idea. Let’s read each others responses and see if we can learn something about the opposite sex and our views of marriage. Could be fun.
I always thought they were cool. After all, I grew up on a healthy diet of rock n roll…I was required to like them, right? I never fell in love though like some of my real rocker friends. It was in their blood. Before they could drive a car they had elaborate tattoos plotted out. They knew exactly where they were going to put them, and as soon as they were 18 and had the money saved from their summer jobs, it was done. I was pretty envious when they came around with these creative and colorful murals imprinted on their arms, legs, chests, and backs. I was envious because I wasn’t cool enough. I could never pull that off. If I tried to be a tattoo guy, I would just look like a fool. And it would be evident for the rest of my life.
Deep inside though, I always hoped I could somehow squeak enough cool-points in to get a little something sketched somewhere. The fact that I just said “cool-points” though is just more proof that this was never going to happen. Rule #1 about cool-points: you don’t talk about cool-points.
So since I couldn’t get a tattoo based on being cool, the only other reason I’d be allowed in the club is if getting a tattoo had some sort of personal significance, and for me, it had to have enough significance that when I looked at it 30 years from now, it’d still hit me with that same meaning. This purpose-driven tattoo sounds great in theory, but then I thought about my life. What has happened in my short time that’s large enough and momentous enough that its best memorial would be to etch it into my skin?
The image never came, so I just kept the idea of a tattoo on the backburner. For 28 years it stayed there until about a week ago, just relaxing in a chair at home, in the middle of a stretch and yawn, the revelation came to me. It appeared as quick as a flash.
Home.
Home has been a theme for exploring over the last few years in my life, as it’s been a difficult season to plant roots. I’m sure this has been amplified in part because of my profession of travel. As a result, I’ve had to basically fit home inside my backpack and suitcase and go where ever my schedule took me. I’m not complaining about this. I love to travel, and just like the Church is people, not a building, I believe that “home is where the heart is.” It’s a spiritual place, a state of mind. Home is where we rest, and as Christians, we rest in the arms of the Father. This can take place anywhere. Lately though, I’ve allowed myself to appreciate the fact that God gave humans the desire for home to be a physical place too. A place with a roof and a kitchen and a bed and dressers to put things in. Defining home has been the grand resolution of a long, mad season that has felt a lot like the last step in solving the Rubik’s Cube; more disjointed than ever, but with just a couple more crazy twists and turns, it’s finally resolved.
So I did it. With a solid idea of what home looks like, on my way out of town last week, I stopped at a shop and got a little tattoo. No matter where I travel or where I live, the person I have become and will continue to become…my faith, my family, my friends, my favorite pizza…tough lessons learned and the battles won that have shaped me…all of it will always be mapped according to and understood by this little graphic. It’s a reminder that as long as I’m on earth, wherever I go, wherever I live, however far off the beaten path I get, and wherever I end, this will always be where my little tangent originated. It’s my trail of breadcrumbs. All of it’s in there, and I couldn’t be happier to have the reminder.
Ps…If I had a soundtrack for this season (which I always do. Don’t we all?), “Bloodbuzz Ohio” would be the song that plays as the credits role. I listened to it like 10 times in a row before and after I got the tattoo. The mood of the song feels just like a journey to home and the lyric adds a personal accent since it’s about Ohio. There is a difference between their version and one I might sing though. I’m certain Ohio remembers, and I definitely think about love when I think about home. Also I married.
I sat down to write some kind of blog today, but anything I thought to put down just seemed unimportant. Matt and Sarah’s new baby boy, Bowen had his first open-heart surgery on Monday, and it seemed to go well. However today his heart crashed and they had to open him up to perform more surgery. Currently he’s stable and doing really well on life support, but he still has a very long road ahead.
Let’s all take a minute right now before doing anything else and pray hard for Bowen.
Eric and I made it home from the motorcycle trip. Without a doubt, it was everything we hoped for…4 full days of motorcycle riding under a blue sky, canopied in trees and mountains, with hardly a straight road for miles.
Day One:
Nashville, TN – Asheville, NC.
Riding St. Rt. 129 aka Tail of the Dragon – 318 curves in 11 miles. This road is insane! Eric is a veteran rider and I’d barely call myself “intermediate,” so once we began, I didn’t see him for 20 minutes when I reached the bottom. He was parked and his helmet was off, he’d been done for awhile. You can see a map of this road by looking at the last blog post. Again, insane.
Lookout at the top of The Dragon
After surviving the Deal's Gap, aka the Tail of the Dragon
Self-explanatory?
At the bottom of The Dragon, this is where Harrison Ford jumped out of the tunnel in The Fugitive
Camping in Smoky Mountain National Park – We rolled in around midnight and couldn’t see anything. We were scared of being mulled by a bear. We weren’t, so that was good. In the morning Eric’s battery died. We tied a load-strap from my bike to his, and I pulled him down the road until it jump started. Fairly ridiculous.
Day Two:
Asheville, NC to Pearisburg, VA:
Blue Ridge Parkway – This is an amazingly scenic road that runs all the way to Roanoke, VA. Unfortunately a lot of it is under construction, and it took a long time to really get going. Once we finally did though, it was a blast. Has to be one of the most beautiful rides in the country.
Stayed at a sweet cabin – The family of our road manager’s wife owns a little cabin out in the middle of nowhere, Virginia, and they were gracious enough to let us crash there for the night. It’s an incredible spot that was very relaxing after 2 days of riding. We slept in.
Day Three:
Pearisburg, VA to Huntington, WV
New River Gorge – Riding from Pearisburg to Huntington might have been my favorite part of the trip. There was so much to look at; farmland, mountains, valleys, canyons, and the longest arch bridge in the western hemisphere.
Would you believe they were watch Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb on tv?
Day Four:
Huntington, WV to Home – After a delicious and unhealthy breakfast from the infamous Tudor’s Biscuit World, Eric and I went our separate ways. He went home to Nashville, I went up to Ohio. The Buckeye’s season opener was beginning at about the same time I was rolling through Columbus. Traffic was thick. Instead of fighting all the cars, I decided a better use of my time would be to go find a television and watch the game. I did. The buckeyes won. Good deal.
Silver Bridge that crosses from WV to OH. Collapsed in the 60s and was in the movie, Mothman Prophecies.
Bob Evan's Family Farm
So good times were had. I’m ready to do it again in a month when the leaves are changing color. I think I might have to go back work though…oh well. That’ll be fun too.
I roast my own coffee. It's become a fun hobby, and it tastes pretty good if I do say so myself. If you'd like to try some, you can order it here. I'll roast it & ship it asap.
