Lay Down My Weary Tune

(Note: Due either to my technical ineptitude or some subtlety I missed in the instructions, the photos I planned to post with this wouldn't show up. Instead, visit Handsome Jim P's flickr page, where you can view not only photos referred to, but some of the finest photographic images you're likely to see around. And visit his blog, too -- the guy can write.)

I whine way too much. Newly 40 and about to celebrate Thanksgiving in my new home, I have a lot to be grateful for. I have two incredible children, a home for the three of us, a job with people I admire and love and from whom I learn a great deal, and for the most part, good health. I have three big brothers and one little sister who have been with me on my journey since the beginning. And I have the most wonderful, complex circle of friends, from people who’ve stuck with me since high school, to a few brand new people helping to light my way.

This past weekend, I enjoyed the company of many loved ones, who came out to celebrate my first 40 years. It was overwhelming to have so many people from so many walks of my life, in one tiny spot on earth. I wish the others could have been there, too, but for many years to come I will carry the good feeling of watching bits and pieces of my life intermingle for the first time. It was an opportunity to stop and take a rest under the family tree, to lay down a weary tune and just listen to the music of the spheres, and be happy.

I want to thank especially my brothers Mike, David, and Brian; my sister, Anne; my children; my nieces and nephews; my friends Herbert and Rebecca Smith, my friends Lynne, Shannon, and Diana; and Jim, who took these photos and who has taught me to see many things in new light.

Lay Down Your Weary Tune
Bob Dylan

This song is beautifully performed with a slightly bluegrass-trad flair on Tim O'Brien's Red on Blonde album. It's a favorite of many Dylan fans because you can actually understand the beautiful and powerful language. It's one of my all-time favorite recordings.

Lay down your weary tune, lay down,
Lay down the song you strum,
And rest yourself 'neath the strength of strings
No voice can hope to hum.

Struck by the sounds before the sun,
I knew the night had gone.
The morning breeze like a bugle blew
Against the drums of dawn.
Lay down your weary tune, lay down,
Lay down the song you strum,
And rest yourself 'neath the strength of strings
No voice can hope to hum.

The ocean wild like an organ played,
The seaweed's wove its strands.
The crashin' waves like cymbals clashed
Against the rocks and sands.
Lay down your weary tune, lay down,
Lay down the song you strum,
And rest yourself 'neath the strength of strings
No voice can hope to hum.

I stood unwound beneath the skies
And clouds unbound by laws.
The cryin' rain like a trumpet sang
And asked for no applause.
Lay down your weary tune, lay down,
Lay down the song you strum,
And rest yourself 'neath the strength of strings
No voice can hope to hum.
The last of leaves fell from the trees
And clung to a new love's breast.
The branches bare like a banjo played
To the winds that listened best.

I gazed down in the river's mirror
And watched its winding strum.
The water smooth ran like a hymn
And like a harp did hum.
Lay down your weary tune, lay down,
Lay down the song you strum,
And rest yourself 'neath the strength of strings
No voice can hope to hum.