Burgers and Connecting with an Old Buddy!

This morning dawned bright and clear!  And after a few moments of quiet in the uncomfortable sofa bed connecting with a friend in a different time zones I crawled out and tried to straighten my back that had the imprint of the cross bar of the sofa bed frame on it!  It was gonna be a good day.  My sunburn didn't hurt and even the burn on my calf wasn't stinging... and the sun was up and the sky was blue!  The only thing missing was coffee and that was soon rectified once Duane got out of bed and we got on the road back toward Gravenhurst.

About halfway there I called Paul Rumbolt.  Paul and I did youth ministry together in Foothills Presbytery back in the early nineties: ski trips, retreats, rafting trips, special worship services and so on... we got to know a lot of awesome kids and have a lot of fun together!

As a musician, Paul has travelled across the country a fair bit and my work has seen me get to Alberta regularly and in most every case when one of us is in the vicinity of the other we make an effort to connect - and its always a good connection: stories, laughter and some deep conversation.  Today was no exception.

I just had to...  stop at Webers.  An iconic burger joint that most everyone on their way to the cottage stops at on a Friday night!!  It was Wednesday and the lineup was manageable... the burger was really satisfying... as was the conversation I shared as I sat in the shade.

Arriving at his and Michelle's new home - built in 1880 - I was quickly embraced and welcomed into their space and given a cold can to quench my thirst (the town water is not drinkable - so it had to be beer).  After Paul and Michelle had lunch Paul and I headed out on a drive talking about community, growth, marriage, change and commitment... I will try and an offer a brief synopsis here... and I expect that Paul will find at least a verse for a song from our ramblings...

We marry young and so often don't really know ourselves let along the person we are marrying, add to this the fact that individuals grow in different directions and at different rates - its amazing that anyone is still married.  In addition, the world is so much bigger now.  No longer do people marry someone from the next community over and then move to one community or the other and spend the rest of their lives together.  A marriage needs to meet the needs of both people in it - when such is not the case those in it have a choice - to stay and make the best of things or leave and seek a new beginning.

Before we knew it we were in Schomberg and spent a few minutes looking around a custom motorcycle shop (Paul was looking for a garage to service his bike).  As we came to the intersection nearest the shop he looked at me and asked "Where to now?"  Knowing he had an appointment I reply, "Back to Bradford - but not by the same road..."  Quickly he smiled and laughed, "Yeah man... lets go!!"

As we rolled through Tottenham I pointed out the rink and Paul was dumbfounded to learn that I had grown up in this area.  I guess our friendship was such that history that far back was unimportant... we always focused on the present moment and what was happening in each others life at the time!

I remember on one of his tours through the Maritimes he arrived at my place on a Sunday and I asked: "What do you need?"  His reply was classic Paul: "KFC and beer!"  At the Kentucky Fried Chicken outlet

on Mountain Road a cabbie told us where the nearest bootlegger was... and that's how two United Church ministers came to be walking out of a garage someplace on Highfield Street with a brown paper bag of a dozen Alexander Keith's on a Sunday evening!

That'll be all for this day... I'm going to focus on the present moment with Paul.  Hopefully he'll share with me some of the material he is putting together for the next two albums.

On the Sabbath Road...