A Fugitive Loose in Yellowstone
Greetings from Yellowstone!
While it’s 107 degrees back home in Texas, it's a brisk 53 degrees up here in Montana today, and I am really enjoying the cool weather.
This has certainly been a dream trip for us. It is one of those things you talk about doing your whole life but never make the time to do. Sometimes I still can’t believe I am out here doing this while I have a new album out. Albums are like kids; they take time and focus to flourish. I know that well, but all I have done my whole life is put out album after album. There has never been time in the cycle to do something like this.
It’s strange- I have traveled my whole life, all over the world. However, I worked so hard the whole time, waking early and doing press all day until I walked onstage, that I never got to see any of the city or country I was visiting. Even here in the states, I had already been to all the towns we have been to on our motorcycles, but I never got to explore! So that’s what we are doing- no agenda, no work, just exploring this country of ours, and maybe we will make it to Europe to ride next. If we do ride our motorcycles through Europe, I promise to do a few shows along the way!
I have to admit, i do wake up some mornings in a cold sweat, worrying I should be working harder on doing shows and in person visits for radio, so the singles will do better. But On the other hand, I don’t want to wake up at 50 and realize I spent my entire youth on work and never took the time to enjoy what I had until I was too old and too achy to go do something like this
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Balancing a career and love are tricky. Balancing a career and living a life outside of that career is tricky too. It’s really hard to let go like this, but I have always said I didn’t want to look back on my life to see the only thing I built, was fame. So, even though it’s really uncomfortable at times, I have to walk the walk, not just talk the talk!
I care so much about my career, but what’s the point if that’s all you have? The great thing about creativity and writing is I can do that part of my job anywhere. I’m actually writing more than I have in a long time while out here! It feels good to feel free and off the constant cycle of record, promote, record, promote, that I have been in since I was 18. Right now I can just create and breathe and let my mind wander and listen to music. It’s great to let my eyes feast on the beauty as it unfolds on the open roads before us and smell the air as it changes from pine, to mountain rain, to sagebrush, to wild flowers.
Spending time with my husband has been a gift too. We met 12 years ago, and we both have traveled non-stop since then. I don’t think either one of us had been around each other longer than 2 weeks without leaving again - that’s kind of crazy! I’m happy to report we can still stand each other when we are around each other longer than 2 weeks - Good to know...
We are currently in Yellowstone, and the wildlife here has really been amazing. We have seen bears, wolves, buffalos, elk, deer, eagles and big horned sheep on our trip so far. Minus a few mountains, I almost feel like I’m back home in Alaska.
For those of you curious about what I have been writing, it’s been mostly poetry-some of it about myself and some about the people I see around me. I love people watching, and there is plenty of it in some of these crowded summer tourist spots. I will begin to collect the poems at some point in the near future to publish another book. However, I like writing and creating more than I like to organize what I’m writing and creating, so I’m just going to keep writing for now... ha...
xxj