Day off last night in Raleigh. Spent much needed time with loved ones. My older brother took me out for Indian food and nice beer, and the rest of the tribe disembarked to sleep with a friend in the woods outside of Chapel Hill. Last time we were in that spot, we went wild, and my cousin burned a television set on the bonfire and we all choked on the poison green smoke. Stayed up all night and slept out under the trees. Something about yesterday’s pissing gray rain, the nip in the air come nighttime, and the fatigue registered in the faces of my compadres tells me last night was a different affair all together. Probably showers, and laundry, and sleep and that’s all.

Today I’m running errands: getting my passport together for our upcoming Scandinavian tour and filing band taxes. Going to the bank, grocery store, etc: those little bits of reality that fasten you to your obsolete-seeming workaday rituals that comprised your days before you left for tour.

Also, spending time with one of my best friends in the world, Danica. Known each other for years, used to live together way back, and she’s a linguist now, so we have great conversations: meandering, lived-in talks that cover so much ground they feel like separate worlds all together. I love her to pieces, and it’s great to converse about something besides beerfarts, amp sounds, shows, whiskey, bands, blah blah blah.

Outside is bright and cool, and we’re gearing up for a bike ride to the post-office; then maybe some coffee and a walk around the park nearby. Hallelujah!

Tonight, I’ll see more dearly beloved because it’s my old home state, and I know the show will be raucous. Can’t wait: joy of a different color than the kind I’m swimming in right now.

Jim McHugh