Monday, the morning illuminated with unfiltered sun.  Reaching for my dark sunglasses I accelerated into traffic, peering directly into the rising sun.  Turning left from Fabyan Parkway onto Rt 31 I noted the poor reception on the FM radio no matter the station selected.  Atmospheric conditions are such, — static mixes with music,…

That is so, more often than I remember.  I chose to forget about those times of struggle.  I’d rather remember the victory laps.  The “long grind” is part of the deal.  You apply yourself to your duty, because no other option seems reasonable, under the circumstances.  I remember several years in college, attending class, writing papers, in a standoff with the fog of depression.  Working nights for a while, I functioned on caffeine and adrenaline, willing myself to ignore the aching weariness.  

I suppose that is how Odysseus must have felt on his long, often interrupted trek home.  After ten years spent on the beach in a war camp facing the walls of Troy…  Ten years is a long time to be away from home.  Mercifully he had no idea about how difficult, obstacle filled, the return to his family would be.  That’s life.  One never knows the hand that will be dealt.  Homer wrote the truth.

With the direct, nearly blinding sun, the static laced radio reception, this Bob Seger tune came across this morning.  Iconic the Seger song says with clarity, and depth what I want to say.  Turn The Page by Bob Seger. 

Turn The Page

By Bob Seger

On a long and lonesome highway, east of Omaha
You can listen to the engine moanin’ out its one-note song
You can think about the woman, or the girl you knew the night before

But your thoughts will soon be wandering, the way they always do
When you’re riding sixteen hours and there’s nothing there to do
And you don’t feel much like riding, you just wish the trip was through

Here I am, on a road again
There I am, on the stage
Here I go, playing star again
There I go, turn the page

Well, you walk into a restaurant all strung-out from the road
And you feel the eyes upon you as you’re shaking off the cold
You pretend it doesn’t bother you, but you just want to explode

Most times you can’t hear ’em talk, other times you can
All the same old clichés, is it woman, is it man?
And you always seem outnumbered, so you don’t dare make a stand

Here I am, on a road again
There I am, on the stage
Here I go, playing star again
There I go, turn the page

Out there in the spotlight you’re a million miles away
Every ounce of energy you try to give away
As the sweat pours out your body like the music that you play

Later in the evening as you lie awake in bed
With the echoes from the amplifiers ringin’ in your head
You smoke the day’s last cigarette, remembering what she said

Here I am, on a road again
There I am, up on the stage
Here I go, playing star again
There I go, turn the page

Here I am, on a road again
There I am, on the stage, yeah
Here I go, playing star again
There I go, there I go

Lyrics by Bob Seger