Things I Have Enjoyed This Week

A Really Good Shuffle

I was listening to one of my overly-large playlists and the algorithm was delivering banger after banger. NO SKIPS. I kept thinking: man, good shuffle. And I had this memory of my old pal Matt who went on ahead. We worked together and a big gang of us would pile into Matt’s car every day to go to lunch. He would usually hand off his iPod to someone and let them pick music. This one day he said:

Hey, Robert, will you bring your iPod for the music today? I’m in the middle of like a really good shuffle and I don’t wanna throw it off.

Sure. But we could just keep your good shuffle going. I wanna hear it.

Nah. It’s kinda personal. I don’t really wanna share.

Ha! I totally understand.

I love that memory.

Late Night Drunk Texts From a Good Buddy

Who else is drunk and watching Young Guns 2?

Gimme a sec—I can get there on both! We’ll get a watchalong going.

[In the process we learned that there is a third Young Guns in the works.]

Is it called Old Guns?

You wish. Guns 3: Dead or Alive. Directed by Emilio.

This is what friends are for.

Open Mic Fans

A couple who I had never seen came to the open mic I like to play. They were friendly. They didn’t play, just watched for a while. When they were leaving they stopped to tell me they liked my songs. I started to tell them the music was available on Spotify and Apple Music, etc, and the guy cut me off—“I already found your stuff. Thanks!”

Stone Lions

Somewhere up in the Jemez Mountains—a dormant (not dead) super volcano that exploded a million and a half years ago—there are a pair of mountain lions, carved out of volcanic rock. It’s a sacred site. People have been living in the area for thousands of years and the lions are at least a few hundred years old.

Because of their religious significance, local tribes have asked the National Parks System to “downplay their location” (translation: the NPS will not give out any info), so I won’t give it away here, other than to say it’s somewhere in the vast Bandelier Wilderness. Or is it the Dome Wilderness? Somewhere in there. But even if you know, even if you dig around on the internet and find the location, it’s very difficult to get there.

I know of two routes - one hike that’s over 10 miles roundtrip and the other is 13-ish miles. It’s high altitude and there is no shade or water along the way, so you’ve gotta really want it. I first did it 2 years ago and have made and abandoned several attempts since then. I finally completed the journey again last Sunday. If you can get there, it’s a magical thing to see. (Come visit and I’ll take you.)

The two lions are lying down. They are significantly worn, but you can make out the features: the tail, the paws, the snout, the powerful haunches. They’re in the middle of a stone circle. It definitely feels sacred and special. Don’t touch anything. Stay out of the circle. Be quiet. Behave. Pay your respects and be on your way.