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Day 67: The End

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                Today was the final day of the tour. I drove through the Mojave National Preserve on my way to my gig at the 29 Palms Inn. The drive through the Mojave is one of my absolute favorite drives on the planet. There are way more Joshua Trees out here than I have ever seen in the Joshua Tree National Park. This road is so remote you may not see another car for 30 minutes, which is an incredible thing anywhere in Southern California. The gig at the 29 Palms Inn was really good. It was chill on a Tuesday night, but a nice, appreciate crowd in front of the pool after a hot day. Cool night in the desert. They gave me a room at the hotel and that felt really nice too. I admit that I am looking forward to getting home to my apartment, where I have a real bed and I can stand up and move around. I have my own private bathroom! That is a luxurious thing after 67 days in a Toyota Prius. However, it is a bittersweet feeling. I am apprehensive about returning to civilized life. F
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Day 66: Caterpillars Create Cocoons & Humans Create Artificial Intelligence

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Spent most of today driving through the rest of Utah towards California. I was uninspired. Probably lonely. I listened to the Joe Rogan podcast as I drove. Joe Rogan was talking to one of his guests about technology. He proposed a theory that I have never heard before. The theory is that human beings are the biological catalyst to create Artificial Intelligence (AI). Basically, human beings are the caterpillar building a cocoon for a a butterfly which is AI.   The caterpillar probably has no idea why it’s making the cocoon, it’s just in its instinct to build it. It seems it is human instinct to evolve and change. We are constantly coming out with new gadgets to enhance our reality. The human as a cocoon builder for AI is a theory that I have never heard before, but it resonates with me. This would answer my questions as to why we are allowing ourselves to live like we do in this modern world of technology. Our technology is advancing so fast we can’t even keep
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Day 65: A Walk Along the the Jordan River, Salt Lake City

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I don’t know how true this is, but I heard a story about how when Georgia O’Keefe moved to the desert, she had a type of revelation where God said to her something like “just paint this mountain everyday and I will take care of the rest”. I think it was during a period of great torment in her life. She wasn’t sure what to do. So for the rest of her life Georgia O’Keefe painted and God took care of the rest. Although I don’t know how true this story is or if I just made it up somehow, it is kind of how I live my life these days. I get out of bed, I book and promote my gigs, I write, I create and perform my music until I am too exhausted to do anything else and then I leave the rest up to God. I like to believe that every living thing is the same. We all have a gift we are given. If we cherish and nourish that gift as much as we can everyday, God will take care of the rest. We don’t remember to breath. We don’t make our hearts beat. God takes care of that. I p
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Day 62-64: The Ups and Downs.

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 Day 62-64 : One minute no one is listening and  a kid with wet hair who just climbed out of a swimming pool is asking if he can have one of my harmonicas. The next minute a group of people are dancing with elation. Ah, the life of a musician….. On the night of Day 61 I drove from Ketchum Idaho to Salt Lake City Utah.   I listened to the Doors “The End” on repeat as I drove through the vast expanse of barren land and darkness on this magnificent summer night. The feeling of freedom enraptured me. I’m not sure how long this feeling can stay on a person, but I hope it continues forever. Why did I choose to listen to the Doors’ “The End”? I’m not sure. I really like the mystical feeling. It’s one of my all time favorite recordings. I’m certainly not fond of the way Jim Morrison treats his parents at the end of this song…. Day 62 was a Thursday. I arrived in Salt Lake City. I had the day off from playing any gigs. It was hot when I arrived in the afternoon. There was way more traffi
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Day 61: Darthie the Darth Vader Prius

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                It would be very nice to have a van on long trips like this. A van that has a proper bed, a kitchenette, a bathroom, a high roof so I can stand up inside and play my banjo. Mercedes diesel Sprinter vans are all the rage these days. However, I have come to conclude that my Toyota Prius is the perfect vehicle for me for now. I am almost positive any van I get would cost me much more money to operate when fuel costs and maintenance is factored in. This Prius is the perfect vehicle for me to experiment in until I get my perfect tour routes mapped out. One day, when I have my routes mapped out and this Prius is paid for, then perhaps I will get a van. I had a Volkswagen Vanagon for about 10 year and I loved it. I even ran it on vegetable oil. It got about 30 mpg, had proper beds for up to 4 adults, a kitchenette, and the roof popped up so I could stand up in it. However, I had to work on this van constantly to keep it on the road, I spent tons of money on parts, and
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Day 60: Play on Songbird. Play on.

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      I played at the Kechum Farmers’ Market in Kechum Idaho today. Such nice people! They were very appreciative for my musical presentation and I hope to come back and play here next summer, God willing and the Earth keeps on supporting human existence.       I spoke to a dear friend of mine on the phone this morning who is always very current on the health of the Earth’s environment. She says that some experts predict we have about a year left before the environment will be so hot that plants won’t grow and therefore we will have no food. She says that not only is the Amazon on fire, but that the Artic is on fire too in parts of Siberia.   Furthermore, the Bahamas is being devastated by a massive hurricane. I think every generation since the beginning of human beings has claimed that the sky is falling. I think even the cave people would say to each other “Did you see what happened to Tim the other day? He was eaten by a tiger!!! I can’t believe what the world is coming to!!
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Day 58 & 59: Chillin’ out by the Big Wood River.

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I spent the past two days just chillin’ out. For real. Both days I woke up and watched Netflix on my phone that is mounted to my car’s dashboard, until about 10am. Then I went for a long hike. Then off to a brewery for lunch and a beer. Then a nap. Then a solar shower. Then check out a live local music concert. Last night I listened to a band called “Woven” in Bellevue, ID. Today, for Labor Day, I went to an all day music festival in Bellevue. There are a ton of talented musicians in this part of Idaho! I always end up meeting really nice people when I go out to hear live music. They are very welcoming and interested in my music too. “The Hurdy-Gurdy Girls” opened up the Labor Day festival. I met one of the girls the other night at my show at “The Mint” in Hailey, so I figured I’d go check them out. I was so impressed with their music I ended staying for the next band, who was a bluegrass group called “Dewey Pickette & Howe”. They are a traditional blue
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