A Funny Thing Happened to Me on the Way to School...

As I so eloquently opined in my last entry, it only takes a brief moment to change so many things, and on a much smaller scale than that night at Willow Street Pizza, I had one of those experiences today.

I was out walking Q on my way to Jackson's school when a wave of emotion came over me, and I began to sob walking down the street. It felt like it was going to be a pretty enduring moment, when one of my neighbors turned the corner in her truck. I gathered myself just enough to wave hello, with every intention of returning to my little breakdown once she had passed, but right behind her was another car, a green, American-model sport sedan. Out of its windows poured the loud and crystal clear sounds of "Cruise Control," a great tune by one of my all-time favorite bands, the Dixie Dregs (from their album "Unsung Heroes," left). It's important to note that in the 24 years I've been a Dregs nut, I've never, not once, heard the Dregs blasting out of a passing car (though I've done quite a bit of the blasting myself). In just a few seconds, I was taken from an unexpected pit of grief to the unbridled joy of air-playing a Steve Morse guitar lick.

The fact that I got to enjoy that burst of the Dregs was part of what makes the moment so significant. Rox pretty much hated the Dregs. She was unwilling to listen to their CDs with me, and there was no way she'd ever have gone to one of their live shows. And while we were married, this really steamed me. I felt she should have at least made the effort to share in my total enjoyment of all things Dregs, just as I accompanied her to see Phoebe Snow and countless chick flicks. But now I realize how lucky I am that she rejected the Dregs, as not only am I free to enjoy them, baggage-free, but I know I can turn to their music to heal and lighten my soul in a whole new way. I can't say the same for the Beatles, Joni Mitchell, Stevie Wonder, Tracy Chapman, Los Hombres Calientes, and countless other music acts that she and I loved together.

Anyway, given all of this background, to be stumbling into a little emotional trough and have a guy drive by blasting the Dregs at that exact moment, well, that just strikes me as way beyond coincidental. If Vincent Vega were in the house, he'd say it was a fucking miracle.