>that is the best way i can sum up my spring break trip to nashville. in fact, i could actually use it to sum up my entire former career and life in nashville. last saturday, i set out in the VW to drive halfway ’round the world to tennessee (mainly the part between memphis and nashville feels like half way round the world), to visit some old friends and a little bit of family. i did not really have any agenda for the trip other than that i wanted to eat some great food, visit and hear some live music. i did all of those things. a few of them a little too much! the first night, i hung out with my sister until she had to tuck in to prepare for work the next morning, then i went to visit another friend who got home around 10:30 FROM work. we had a lovely visit, listened to music, drank a little red wine and talked about boys. and, you know, no matter how much you grow up and how much the boys grow up, the ‘talking about boys’ always feels a little bit the same. it’s not a criticism…just a reality. so, you would suppose that, after all these years, when our conversations about boys continue to focus on the same issues, sometimes in the same order, we girls would be advanced enough to learn from our past experiences. yet, speaking for myself, it does not appear to be so. is it the proverbial hopeless romanticism? is it hopefulness period? an X-chromosome-related belief that this time it will be right? i suppose relationships are one of the most constantly changing yet staying the same aspects of our lives. they follow patterns whether we recognize them or not. and in saying that, i wonder, when i am teaching my little three-year-old students to recognize AB patterns (red, yellow, red, yellow, red, yellow), am i giving them a jump start on figuring out their future relationships? is that why i have not fully figured it out yet? because i did not go to pre-k or kindergarten, and i had to become aware of AB patterns all on my own? possible. of course, now, as a grown woman, i know that only God knows what pattern every single thing and every single person will follow. darn free will. anyway, we had a nice time — digging around in thoughts — my own and those of others — is one of my favorite pastimes. the next day, i went to one of my favorite coffee shops with my friend and had breakfast and then returned home to rest up for a night of live music. we went to hear a great songwriter and musician names maia sharp. check out her music at http://www.maiasharp.com. one of my friends was supposed to be playing with her, but she did not show. which made me sad because i love her and her music, too. then, for a great historical moment, we drove out southeast of town to meet our friends jeff and rick at the waffle house for rick’s farewell to nashville waffle-fest. he did not even know i was in town, so it was a special surprise. we sat with them for quite a while, eating too much and visiting with the very colorful staff of the Bell Road waffle house. Kay and Rick were the servers, I think. (I know I’ll be corrected if I’m wrong here). a few tidbits from that interactions. first, you must know that quite unusually, they were cleaning up and preparing to shut down the griddle for a super-Ajax-ing due to inspectors coming by to check out the place later that day. we remarked to kay that she shared jeff’s last name, and she quickly retorted, “it was my husband’s last. i’d already bought the house before we got the divorce.” then, kay the server said re: her phone number too, “I was gonna change my number, but it took me forever to remember this one. hell it’s easier to get rid of him.” then, in a special culinary moment, she said, regarding the mess they were cleaning up over there on the griddle, “all that grease that comes out of that kitchen, y’all will never want to eat at the waffle house again.” at that point, i realized that if i did not whip out my pen and paper, those moments would be tragically lost forever.

monday. what did i do on monday? here is where i lose track. oh, i went to eat thai food with my sister, and we both agreed that, no matter how spice you like your food, always go with mild or medium at the Royal Thai. then we went to walk our friend’s dog, where i discovered that i am the only person on planet earth whose photo is not stuck to her refrigerator, so i left her a nasty note scribbled on a paper towel that i stuck in her door. then, we went to visit with a friend at Sony, and we caught up with him and his family and their goings-on. he let us pilfer his CD giveaway boxes, so we are knee deep in new music, which was nice for the drive home. he’s a good friend and a good man — one of those people you are truly glad you met, however that happened all those years ago. then we met a few other friends for dinner at an Irish pub. fish and chips there. and a nice pinot grigio. we learned, by accident, that bars and restaurants sell out of their limited wine selections by the end of the weekend, first of the week. because on sunday and monday, our first choices had been all drunk up by people who got there earlier than we did. so we second-choiced our way through a bottle of Jacob’s Creek something-or-other on Monday that cost us almost twice as much. it might be a marketing ploy, come to think of it. “yes, ma’am, we are all sold out of the $14 wine. all we have is the $26 wine.” sure. so that was fun, and we spent a few hours laughing and reminiscing with them. always a delight. some of the best folks i’ve ever known. on to tuesday. honestly, i have no idea. except for in the evening, my cousin came over for dinner, and my sister cooked a lovely casserole of chicken spaghetti.

on wednesday, i lunched with my friend john over an Indian food buffet. we talked about music and film, as we do when we get together. it’s rare to find someone whose taste you trust in those two areas. am i wrong? he allowed me into the “prize room” where i got a few new CDs for the road. then it rained. then i returned to karyn’s place, invited helena over, and we talked for a long time about finding peace in this world and learning to be faithful even though it does not come naturally in a world so full of pain and questions. we shared some stories, cried a little and lounged around watching the film being julia with annette bening and jeremy irons which was really quite good. i think i had to stop watching during the last few minutes to get ready to go to a wine tasting. which was a bit of a farce, but we had some nice cheese and were repeated accosted by older gentlemen of various ethnic backgrounds. enter paul, the russian. too weird to even write about, i’ve decided. needless to say, we were the cutest girls there, the least worn-out, anyway, which drew us a lot of attention. that we did not necessarily want. we almost came to the decision that we might have been the only women there who were not “on the clock”. yikes. after that, we went to an old haunt, “the sportsman’s grille” for a catfish basket and cheeseburger. both delightful. talked more and shared more stories.

thursday, i spent with one of my favorite families on planet earth. they have a new baby i’d yet to meet, and we spent half a day catching up and talking about all things. my friend, the mama, has started a new business making fabulous skin products for other mamas and their babies. you can buy some at www.babybearshop.com. truly special.

that night, i went with some friends to eat cajun food and then to a songwriter’s night/benefit at the wildhorse saloon. four of the most talented ever: craig wiseman, rivers rutherford, leslie satcher and bob dipiero. it should have been splendid, but sound problems and a yappy hostess kind of ruined the entire effect. and i left more bothered than uplifted. however, afterward, we went to get some hot Krispy Kremes and had a hilarious moment in the drive-through with the octogenarian on the microphone, and it all seemed worth it.

i packed up my things and prepared to head westward on friday morning. which i did. and it was a nice and sunny drive with lots of new music (some of what i have liked so far are miranda lambert, trent willmon, butch walker, bobby taylor, john legend…more on all that later).