As I mentioned previously, Mona introduced me to a side of John Denver that most people never are exposed to. Lots of people cynically dismiss him as sacharine or lighweight, but he was a decent and talented man. He recorded a song by Kent Lewis called Song of Wyoming, below...

Well, Im weary and tired, Ive done my days ridin
Nighttime is rollin my way
The skys all on fire and the lights slowly fading
Peaceful and still ends the day
Out on the trail night birds are callin
Singin their wild melody
Down in the canyon cottonwood whispers
A Song of Wyoming for me

Well, Ive wandered around the town and the city
Tried to figure the how and the why
Well, Ive stopped all my schemin
Im just driftin and dreamin
Watching the river roll by
Here comes that big ole prairie moon risin
Shinin down bright as can be
Up on the hill theres a coyote singin
A Song of Wyoming for me

Now its whiskey and tobacco and bitter black coffee
A lonesome old dogie am I
But wakin up on the range
Lord I feel like an angel
Free like I almost could fly
Drift like a cloud out over the badlands
Sing like a bird in the tree
The wind in the sage sounds like heaven singin
A Song of Wyoming for me
A Song of Wyoming for me

Now you have to remember that just a couple of nights before (see the blog entry from Oct 27th) there was a big full Wyoming moon, and after I walked down the driveway to the mailbox and turned around, the Coyotes from several directions stopped me in my tracks with the howling and yelping. The wind inspired the cottonwoods to whisper. The evening sky was afire more often than not, and invariably the peace and stillness settle your soul.

And now we're wandering the city, and God knows we're trying to figure out the how and why of it all. Now we're supposed to stop scheming too for a while, to let things settle down a bit before we figure out what to try and make happen next.

When I played this song for Pat he choked up. So did I.



Text © 2003-2004 Stanley J. Wolf

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