Thursday, December 24th: One of the beautiful paradoxes
of being a Dad is wanting your kids to stay and wanting to
see them make their way. It's the sweet and the bitter, which is how life
should be I think. I know many of you have felt this too. I felt it this
week moving our old table into Jamie's place 300 miles away. Seeing her in
her new world was fun but a little sad. She won't be home for Christmas Eve
tonight and we'll be missing her. Here's the final song, Number 52, "Moving":
52 Songs is finished. As of 2:25 Central Time the project I began on January
1st has come to it's completion. Thank you friends for walking with me
and talking to me as I struggled through. It's been exhilarating. Next week
I'll post my final thoughts on the project. Merry Christmas and my wish to
you for a joyous New Year.
The survey is
ready - time to vote. Please let me know your favorites by
taking a moment to list your top ten. Go to the song
index page to see a
list of songs 1-52. I'm really interested in seeing your choices.
Bumped from comments:
James,
Over the course of 3 hours, 11 minutes, and 41 seconds, you really get to
know a guy (i.e., total time through 51 songs). I took the liberty of pasting
all of your lyrics into a single document for a little Hersch Research. For
what it's worth, I'll try to offer a few observations taken from the 7,527
words you've written (and one instrumental) by looking at the individual word
counts over 51 songs...
Time is a precious commodity to you:
time (60), tomorrow (6), and today (3)
Heaven is a cool breeze along the river:
wind (19), river (18), rain (7), sky (8), lake (5), trout (4), and storm (1)
To struggle is to really live:
fall (11) versus stand (2)
There are two sides to every coin:
fear (17) versus dream (17)
Although you're sentimental, never in a lovey-dovey way:
love (23), heart (23), smile (12), emotion (0), hug(0), and squeeze (0)
Although writing "in the open" requires self disclosure... "I" (202)...,
you enjoy writing about others and for others much more:
you (280), we (82), Dad (10), Mom (5), Family (9), and more than a few everybody's.
And finally, it seems fitting that you believe in balance (2).... begin(5)
versus end (5).
Although 25 years have now passed since playing the St.Scholastica lounge
Mike, I still laugh at the book title... "How to Read".
I still hum... "Joanne, you've got to understand..." and I'm reminded
the best friends allow you to start up right where you left off.
For the record, I'll miss the weekly songs.
I'll miss thinking about and writing my responses.
I'll miss the honesty of a D-chord played on an old guitar.
Thanks for all your hard work.
Thanks for your vision.
Thanks, again, for letting us ride along.
