Hello, new members! Don't forget to check the bottom for backissues!

Greetings from Reno, NV (by way of Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming and Utah). Gas was cheapest in Colby, KS. It was 65 degrees when I arrived in Salt Lake City. And last night, I learned what “maximum chains” sound like on 18 wheelers descending the snowy Sierra Nevada out of Truckee, CA. Everything a road trip should be.

Today's 2-Minute Tale

It is entirely possible I drove more than 2,600 miles west all alone, looking to outrun a suffocating tree pollen allergy attack. Or maybe I drove until the landscape matched my picture jasper ring. Either way, by Colorado or so, I’d achieved both. 

To me, a true “vacation” requires distance, silence, reflection, rest, beauty, and - most importantly - an absolute selfishness I could never allow myself otherwise. Lengthy drives accomplish much of this. Cresting every surprise vista exploding before me, my mouth forming a silent “wow” … well, it would be downright unsafe for me to read that e-mail at 80mph. Time travelling in pursuit of the sunset … oops, looks like I can’t make that morning meeting in this time zone. 

After two or three gleeful days of beef jerky and Cheetos at speed, I take my beauty in the form of some spectacular local fare. Food is often the most stressful aspect of domestic/family life. But on vacation, I have the luxury of gluttony, or not eating dinner at all, or enjoying the same lunch for three days straight (turmeric chicken thigh with rice, avocado, red cabbage, pumpkin seeds and green goddess dressing) because I have no one to shop for, please, or consider but myself. Solitude ensures I can’t be pulled back into serving the greater good (even if it’s just to serve dinner). 

I love people watching. Close enough to drop eaves. Proximity without involvement. In Reno, everyone is either gorgeous or homeless, it seems. And I have gorgeous friends here who understand my introversion perfectly, crawling into this oasis as I do every couple years, frayed and battery drained. They lead me to the guest room, drape the 40-pound weighted blanket over me, and leave me the hell alone. Then they pop up for all-you-can-eat sushi, music, or a hike once I’ve had enough quiet for the day (or three).  

People get introverts wrong. They confuse our preference for NO company as a preference for our OWN company, a kind of narcissistic eschewing of lesser beings. In fact, it’s that other people are exhausting because they are justifiably people, who absolutely SHOULD require our patience, consideration, compromise, and attention. I’m consumed by trying to figure out what to feed my picky eater. I feel guilty over how much quality time I can provide to one friend at a time. I have a hard time saying no if I am capable of doing a favor, and I’ve let myself become more accessible than ever before. I am terrified of letting someone down, and the more people there are, the worse the odds. 

Take just one person with you on vacation: Are they having fun? Are they too tired for this? Is this restaurant okay? Did they bring the right gear? Am I talking too much or too little? Sociopaths can’t empathize with others. Introverts can’t help themselves from becoming overwhelmed by these considerations - unless we are alone. People just come with too many people things. But I assure you, we can barely stand ourselves.

So, I’ll go into a near vacuum for weeks when I can. I’ll drive over 5,000 miles round trip. I'll go an entire day never speaking aloud. I'll take two hours to eat a chicken thigh every day because I am on no one’s schedule. 

Vacation.

*  *  *

It is strange to be on vacation from a place all over the news, my license plate enough to inspire concerned nods and questions. Though the temptation to stay here under the 40-pound weighted blanket is strong, I begin the trip back across the country in a week. By then, I hope, the tree pollen will have moved on. Regardless, my season is as thick with gigs as it is with plant romance (now I’m chuckling to myself, imagining the botanical dating app, “Timber”). 

Though I’m not working out here, I went to see my friends' (Joel Ackerson produced, arranged, played, and sang on my CD, “A Message in the Mess,” and Justin McMahon is the guitar you hear on “No Lantern” - click their names to hear incredible songwriting) 90’s cover band, The Jagged Little Pills. I did a “shot-ski" of Jameson. Who even am I on vacation?

You don't get THAT video, but here's one of me singing Britney Spears with the guys (there's talk of Wilson Phillips next weekend).

UPDATED SHOW CALENDAR 

Write me. Add me to your mailing list. Come to a show (maybe in less snow).
 

BACK ISSUES (full of free stuff!)

WEBSITE | BANDCAMP | INSTAGRAM | FACEBOOK | SPOTIFY | YOUTUBE | ILYAIMY