Am I rushing it? Am I taking too long? I've been walking in circles since I've been back. Long, oval, jagged, pointed.. so not perfect ones, but circular nonetheless. They help me with all kinds of things, like calming my neuroses, helping me think, preventing jimmy legs, and bearing dark, grainy imagery. Bunch of beautiful bonuses.

A huge moment for our country. Gay marriage was deemed legal in all 50 states by the Supreme Court. Celebrations are no doubt going on en masse as I type, and rightly so. Nate Silver posted about the historically fast precedent the country set on making this change in civil rights. He's a numbers guy, and it's fascinating to see the patterns of humanity through numbers. This country is churning in some very positive ways, and it's inspiring. Swallowing the news can be a very unsavory process, often making you physically ill and angrily depressed. Lately it's felt different to me, like there's a positive high tide rolling in. Hope it carries for a long while.

I spent most of the last few weeks in the southern parts of the country, from the southwest to the deep south, to the southeast. We left Charleston, SC the morning of the tragedy at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church. We heard of the shooting while we were still driving north towards Firefly. Just didn't seem real, but it was. Such a peaceful, welcoming town. One of our favorites actually, we've chatted fairly non-jokingly about retiring there someday. It's a gem and it's people are the sweetest. What a damn shame.

The South. What a special area. Thinking about the whole confederate flag fiasco, I don't see how it would change anything at all actually. It's not necessary for any stronger reason than it's unnecessary. Having just spent some time in Texas, Alabama, Florida, and Georgia, I can't recall it being very prevalent anyplace in particular, so maybe it's just not that big of a deal anymore. Maybe this dust up will help unite us even a little bit more. Sometimes it's like the country is one big elevator and we're all in it, massively hungover, stopping at every floor, staring straight forward. The thing is, it has to stop on the ground at some point. Then we go for a walk and a talk, right? Silent elevator, chatty sidewalk. Simple. Work it out, shake on it, grab a coffee. I totally just fixed the world. I should go to bed.

I read an article today about touring musicians, and the sort of unspoken struggle that happens when off the road and away from the extremes of performing and constant travel. How it's hard to come down. There is indeed truth to that. Like getting off a boat, you have to adjust your being, as you would your balance. It takes a minute. I've done little since I've been home but lay in bed, eat, and walk in circles. My dreams have been outrageous and even frightening, and they disappear as soon as I make eyes with them. I also caught a matinee of Fury Road in between all the laziness. That may explain some of the dreams. Damn good flick though. This edit was inspired a bit by the colors in the movie.

There's this bike path near my house that is painted like a road. I often walk circuits on it late at night, but it wasn't until just now that I fully understood why it feels so comforting to walk this particular path. It reminds me of the road, a new constant. A home of sorts. Somewhere I spend a lot of time, with familiar things. If home is where the heart is, as they say, then home is currently the road. Occasionally I visit my stuff and my little stretch of beach. Love these little visits. I've noticed that at night, certain features along the path reveal themselves in the artificial light. Things I didn't take much notice of in daylight.

I'll let the photographs tell the rest. Spring sprang, and Summer's a comer. ;)