Life Is In The Nitty Gritty

Life is in the details.  I mean real, meaningful life is wrapped up in the building blocks of how our days are spent and experienced.  I am a details guy so it is easy for me to say and even easier to understand what I am actually thinking (translating thought to page is a different matter).

A song by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band called "Long Dirt Road (The Sharecropper's Dream)" has prompted my thinking.  I have dreams and sometimes the details surrounding me get in the way.  From the other side, if I did not encounter these circumstances, difficulties and short comings, would there be anything to work for?  And if I did achieve anything of value, could I enjoy it?

The long hard road of life can either stop me from living my dreams or become a stepping stone to fulfillment and satisfaction.  I have included the lyrics of this song from the "Plain Dirt Fashion" album:

Way back in my memory there's a scene that I recall 

Of a little run-down cabin in the woods 

Where my dad never promised that our blue moon would turn gold 

But he laid awake nights wishin' that it would. 

When the world was on our radio, hard work was on our minds. 

We lived our day-to-day in plain dirt fashion, 

With ol' overalls and cotton balls all strapped across your back 

Man, it's hard to make believe there ain't nothing wrong. 

But momma kept the Bible read and daddy kept our family fed, 

And somewhere in between I must have grown 

Cause someday I was dreamin' that a song that I was singin' 

Takes me down the road to where I want to go. 

Now I know, it's a long hard road 

Sometimes I remember when I stay up late at night, 

When the sun-up came, we got up and went 

In the shadows of a working' day, our moonlight hours spent 

Singin' songs along with gramma's radio. 

Now I'm beatin' down a ol' blacktop road, sleepin' in a sack, 

Livin' in my memories all in vain 

'cause those city lights ain't all that bright, compared to what it's like 

To see lightning bugs go dancin' in the rain. 

Momma played the guitar then, and daddy made the saw blade bend, 

And raindrops played the tin roof like a drum. 

But I just kept on dreamin' that a song that I was singin' 

Takes me down the road to where my name is known. 

Now I'm gone, and it's a long hard road 

Yes, I know, it's a long hard road.