Man of Steel’s done got the blues

OK, so a woman didn’t give me the blues that summer. At least not beyond the blues of missing her back home. And I’m pretty sure none of my friends – then or now – call me Superman. But Hank Jr.’s voice and boisterous style infiltrate your psyche and convince you that you’re the guy singing. I was a formerly unfeeling-now-lovesick Superman. I was a country boy capable of independent survival. 

1985 Ponil staff. I'd tell you which one I am, but I think you'll
figure it out. Click on pic to enlarge.

Of course pretty much none of that is true. Oh, I embrace the personas (well, maybe not the unfeeling Man of Steel – I mostly don’t mind being an emotional guy), but I’m not those guys. And that’s fine. It’s fun to fantasize and romanticize life. Reality, however, often takes a different turn.

That second summer at Philmont found me facing my second long-term separation from my first-ever girlfriend. Our first was the three-week winter break just two weeks after our meeting Dec. 1, 1984. If I thought three weeks was miserable, three months was sure to be a near death experience.

It wasn’t. I was busy selling supplies and taking inventory and enjoying the Southwest scenery that surrounded me. And Marybeth stayed in touch. She sent at least a letter a week, sometimes two, minimum eight pages of fancy stationery with lovely, loopy, girlie writing. Once I even received a care package with cookies. They weren’t homemade, but the gesture was appreciated.

Here I am in the Ponil trading post, 1985. Go ahead,
make fun. Facial hair was a challenge then.

Then came the letter. MB’s mom was talking china patterns. I’m not freaked out by commitment. I’m not opposed to marriage. MB and I had talked plenty, as young lovers will, about spending our lives together. We dreamed of that. But that little joke (I learned later it was meant to be funny) somehow scared the 19-year-old me. At least that’s what hindsight tells me.

It must have been fear that inspired my own little joke. I wrote a love letter in response. Only it was to an imaginary girl named Jennifer, whom I’d supposedly met at Philmont – there were women on staff. The idea was that I’d mixed up my letters and sent the wrong letter to my steady girl. Oops. Well, aside from some embarrassment when her family asked what the latest letter said, she got over it and knew it was a lame attempt at humor. Or something like that. Anyway, I was forgiven. But I think it was the beginning of the end.

Anyhoo, Hank Williams Jr. was one of our go-tos that summer. We heard him a lot. And, as noted before, Billy Joel was in heavy rotation. So my playlist includes a couple of random Billy Joel songs. Funny, the ones I remember specifically from Philmont have absolutely nothing to do with anything other than that I first heard them back then. So I chose others that tied to memories associated with the time and location.

In brief, “Worse Comes to Worst” makes the list because of the weird way memories work. I’ve always picked up on one simple line from this song. It really has nothing to do with anything:

“It doesn’t matter which direction, though / I know a woman in New Mexico.”

It reminds me of my departed friend Chris Farrar. He actually did meet a girl on staff at Philmont in 1984. Dee Dee lived in New Mexico and Chris told the story that it was her high school that makes a cameo in the 1984 film “Red Dawn.” It’s a tenuous connection, I know, but it’s how my mind works.

And in a way it all makes sense. Or at least it brings us full circle – talk of first girlfriends and all. So there you have it.

PHILMONT PLAYLIST (One song to go)

Mountain Music - Alabama

Seven Bridges Road – The Eagles

Ghostbusters – Ray Parker Jr.

Music Time (live) - Styx

Slew Foot – James McMurtry

Snowblind (live) - Styx

Y’all Come Back Saloon – The Oak Ridge Boys

Carolina In The Pines – Michael Martin Murphey

Dream On (Single Version) – The Oak Ridge Boys

Cool Clear Water (Remastered) – Sons of the Pioneers

Malagueña – Carlos Montoya

Big Iron – Marty Robbins

Wildfire – Michael Martin Murphey

Roll On (18-Wheeler) - Alabama

Allentown – Billy Joel

Margaritaville – Jimmy Buffett

Man of Steel – Hank Williams Jr.

Worse Comes toWorst – Billy Joel

A Country Boy CanSurvive – Hank Williams Jr.

Today's Stats (Sunday, Oct. 27, 2013)

Temp: 55 degrees F

Distance: 4.19 miles (47 minutes, with wait for train)

Weekly Total: 12.51 miles

Treasure: Nothing today.

iPod Playlist (Shuffle):

Prove Your Love – Taylor Dayne

Mutineer – Warren Zevon

I’m Only Sleeping – The Beatles

Missing You – John Waite

You Run – The Call

Be Still – Storyside B

Long Day – Matchbox Twenty

Lively Up Yourself(live) – Robert Plant

Race Car Ya-Yas – Cake

Exit – U2

Spirits In The Material World – The Police

Nothing Compares 2 U – Sinead O’Connor

Further On (Up The Road) – Bruce Springsteen