During the last hour of a 13 hour car trip through the middle of the  
night last friday, we passed through Chiefland, Florida.  Chiefland  
is one of those dusty beach towns along Hwy 19 between Clearwater and  
Tallahassee that has not changed in 25 years.  I recognized the pawn  
shop, the gas station, and the mexican restaurant from years gone by,  
and the town seemed as sleepy as ever at 6 am on that Saturday morning.

And then I noticed Christmas decorations.  It is November 22nd and  
Chiefland, FL already has their light poles adorned with Christmas  
trees and candles and angels blowing trumpets.  Now, I half-expected  
it from my neighborhood CVS, which has been peddling Christmas wares  
since All Hallows Day.  But Chiefland?  I wasn’t sure whether to be  
impressed or dismayed.

Blatantly Early Christmas hubbub, or “BLECH” as I call it, usually  
drives me crazy.  But this year it is increasingly making me  
thankful.  Like the toy you don’t notice until someone says you can’t  
have it, Thanksgiving gets shoved aside for a more marketable  
holiday, and this year I’m taking it back.  I am thankful for my  
family, my community back in Nashville, this country, this world, the  
stars in the heavens (my kids saw the big dipper for the first time  
that night) and, the sunrise I got to see over Chiefland after an all  
night drive.  There are so many things to be thankful for… and that  
just changes my mood outright.

I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving. 
  

My dad tells this story from when I was 15 or 16, about trying to get me to do my homework. Getting me to sit down was never the problem, he says.  The problem was, I could take 3 hours to do 20 minutes of work.  A mirror lined the wall of our dining room where I sat at the table, doing my homework.  

He testifies, and I remember, my inclination toward distraction was relentless.  I would start my work, get a drink, and stare into the mirror making contorted faces for hours.  If I wasn’t in front of the mirror, I would pick my nose or my clothes or my toes as the unproductive minutes ticked by. Years later, they confessed that they really struggled about whether or not they should try and find some medication to help me.  But that was almost 20 years ago, and there was so much mystery about those drugs back then, not to mention the stigma.  

Recently, I thanked my dad for resisting the temptation to medicate me.  High school is hard enough without having to wrestle with whether or not you are actually screwed up in the head. Having said that, I started taking Vyvance yesterday.  
 
These days, when my attention issues get really bad, Amy and I call it “squirrel mode.”  I’ll look back on the last hour and a half and realize that I have split that time between writing a song on the guitar, preparing songs for worship for Sunday, emailing venues about upcoming shows, working on three different songs on the piano, making coffee, working up a countermelody to a cover song I’m working on, writing a blog, making lunch plans by phone, looking for a light bulb, emailing a venue about an upcoming show, and looking for my wallet.  Maybe I find my wallet.  

Over ten years ago, a doctor prescribed me a Ritalin-type med, and within the first week, I lost my temper in a way that scared me, so I swore off the stuff.  Crazy is better than angry, I figure. Earlier this spring, I ventured back into the arena, having heard about all kinds of newer, better medications, and I found one that helped OK, but it was WAY too expensive, and the generic (cheaper) form required that you take it 3 times a day, at the same time each day.  HA!  None of my days are EVER the same.  That’s like asking Barak Obama to keep his schedule by sundial. After a few months of mood swings and jitters, I opted out again.  

And now I’m back in the saddle. As I popped my second pill this morning, I remembered that I’m supposed to be chronicling my symptoms and reactions, and I’ve decided to do that here.  Why not? We’re playing with the chemicals in my brain, and my brain is the critical organ for creativity, and my creativity sustains this website and gives it purpose.  

I’ll try to keep it current, so you can read along with how things are working, and the sly irony is that I’ve always had trouble keeping my blog current.  Maybe that’s about to change… stay tuned. 

As it turned out, the first week sales of bluebird went a little too well!  We were out of stock within the first day!  I’m really sorry for that inconvenience, and we’ve taken steps to try to keep that from happening again.  Now that we’re all stocked up, please spread the word to your friends and neighbors, and consider ordering bluebird as a sweet little chirping musical Christmas present.  

RG

Many of you have graciously expressed interest in donating to the Goodgame’s adoption fund. If you are interested in donating, you can do so here:

Hey friends,

This is a great day for me, and I’m thrilled to be able to share it with you. Thanks to all of you who have stuck around all these years. Today, we are releasing my new project, bluebird. It is a collection of six songs that I love, and I hope you love them as well.

Well, it is election day in the USA. And I love my country, but I’m ready from a break from stump speeches and political analysis. If you too need a distraction from all the political hoopla, check out the new record!

With the release of this EP, and more new recordings expected next year, I will tour more than in recent years. So be on the lookout for dates in your town, and drop us a note if you are interested in putting on a concert, or even if you just want to share which song is your favorite on bluebird. I’m so thankful for your interest and your support of my music, and I look forward to seeing you out on the road!

Peace to you, and don’t forget to vote!