Tour Diary: (Not) My Three Sons

(July 1, 2012) AUBURN, AL – Despite sleeping just three hours the night before (long story), my last day in Auburn was a very good one. I didn’t do much, though, so this will be a short diary entry.

I walked into town at about 11 or so to get some lunch. It’s about a 35- or 40-minute walk, which is nothing at all. But the temperature was above 100 degrees and I was mopping a lot of sweat off my brow as I trudged through the thick air.

I stopped at historic Toomer’s Corner and bought some postcards in the drugstore. Then I ate crappy falafel at The Pita Pit while writing postcards and reading Steinbeck. After an hour or so, I asked Patrick to come get me so I wouldn’t have to slog through the heat again.

Patrick took me to his house, where I hung out with the family – his wife Susan and his three sons, Charlie (7), Jamie (4) and John (2). We played cars and had a grand old time. Just before 3:30 I asked Patrick to run me up the street to The Gnu’s Room (site of my events the past two nights) so I could interview its owner, Tina Tatum. She was a very smart and inspiring guest. I’ll let you know when that show is posted. I’m still figuring out exactly what to do with these arts-related episodes. I think I’ll publish them as The Jazz Session Extras or something like that. I want them to have the same wide distribution as the regular episodes of the podcast.

After the interview, Tina took me back to Patrick’s, where I played with the boys again and also recorded them doing an intro to The Gnu’s Room episode of the show. My three hours of sleep was really catching up with me, but I was so happy to be playing with all that boyish energy that I tried to power through. We had a lovely dinner, took a few family photos, and that was that. I hope to come back for the Auburn Knights reunion later this month if I can. The boys all wanted me to stay, which was very sweet.

I slept so little because the past couple nights I’ve been up late dealing with some things in my personal life. It’s hard sometimes to be so far removed from everyone. My only options for communicating with those close to me are phone, email and online chat, none of which is appropriate for every situation, and none of which were particularly helpful with the situation I was dealing with. But I think things are going to work out and I hope to sleep better the next few nights.

In the morning I leave for New Orleans. It’s been a dream of mine for so long that I still can’t believe I’m going. I’m going to try to spend most of July there, with some side trips to other places, including here in Alabama.

(If you’d like to support my tour, you can make a one-time donation and get great thank-you gifts HERE. If you’d like to become a member of The Jazz Session and make recurring monthly or yearly payments, you can do that HERE.)

All photos by Patrick McCurry except the self portrait.