By Trevor Hardwick
Happy New Year everyone! Do you ever feel like you are in a bit of a rut? Not necessarily a bad rut, just perhaps an awareness that you’ve been everywhere and seen just about everything so many times it seems there’s nothing new to discover. I feel that way sometimes and I start to long for a change of scenery – not a permanent change, just a little change of direction to go someplace I haven’t been in a while. I don’t mean that as some kind of hinted metaphor, I mean it more literally. I’m on a relatively dedicated path every week, which I am very grateful for (I do love the predictability of a steady run), but the side effect of beating down the same path all the time is that I begin to lose appreciation for the path I’m on as I daydream about heading off in some other direction every once in a while. Sometimes, when I’m rolling down Highway 97 southbound in northern Oregon, I try to imagine that I’m actually somewhere in the panhandle of Texas, on Highway 287, or something like that, just to play tricks on my mind to pass the time. Even though I’m on a dedicated route, I know that feeling isn’t unique to just me. Guys who run all over everywhere can still feel like there’s nothing new to see anymore, but here’s the good news… when things seem a little boring and repetitive, that just means it’s likely going smooth and easy, right? And I’ll take boring over hectic any day! Maybe that’s just me. I like my rut. I just like to pretend it’s a different rut, once in a while.
WHAT’S NEW?
By Trevor Hardwick
I find myself upon this road,
I’ve been upon it plenty.
The windows of my soul have seen,
For years upwards of twenty.
I know the farms and prairie lands,
I know the towns and cities.
I know the mountaintops out west,
And deserts, painted pretty.
The wheels are rollin’ under my feet,
The road stretches out before me.
The poles that pass on either side,
Just stand there and ignore me.
And on the hill way up ahead,
Another rig approaches.
I crest the ridge… the CB skips,
A shout from Nacogdoches.
I look around as if to seek,
A view that’s unfamiliar.
I’ve seen it all before I know,
So I’d settle for peculiar.
My thoughts may keep me company,
The music keeps a rhythm.
The highway lines keep flyin’ by,
And time keeps flyin’ with ‘em.
Some roads sizzle in the heat,
And some roads are all frozen.
It ain’t all good but it ain’t all bad,
It’s just the life I’ve chosen.
Every day may seem the same,
But that ain’t exactly true.
When I look ahead and look around,
I try to see what’s new!