I am moving----again.
I have moved a lot in my life. My time in the Navy taught me to carry only the essentials because there was not room for more.
If you look in my Ford Explorer, you'll see the residual effects of that training. Apart from my library and motorcycle, which are in storage, all of my 'must haves' are inside the vehicle. I have the "Florida Retiree Clothes Bar" from which my clothes are hanging. I have my box of DVDs, another box of vitamins and supplements, and a few other bags of this and that. My computer and some other file folders are riding shotgun.

I do not need much. I have purposely tried to whittle down my possessions over the last few years. I have donated and thrown away.

I feel lighter and lighter the closer I get to the mountains. The mountains--where I hope "to lose the madness" (Col. Ludlow, Legends of the Fall).

The drive out to Durango started to get emotional today as I approached Albuquerque (where I am writing this now). The mountains began to rise, the sun slowly sank, and my iPod played a country song.

"Carrying Your Love With Me" by George Strait



Cause I'm carrying your love with me
West Virginia down to Tennessee
I'll be movin' with the good Lord's speed
Carrying your love with me
It's my strength for holding on
Every minute that I have to be gone
I'll have everything I'll ever need
I'm carrying your love with me

On a lonely highway stuck out in the rain
Darlin' all I have to do, is speak your name
The clouds roll back and the waters part
The sun starts shinin' in my heart for you
You're right there in everything I do...

Carrying your love with me
It's my strength for holding on
Every minute that I have to be gone
I'll have everything I'll ever need
I'm carrying your love with me

It's my strength for holding on
Every minute that I have to be gone
I'll have everything I'll ever need
I'm carrying your love with me"

LORD, you are everything I'll ever need.
When I speak your name, the madness leaves.