Thursday, October 6, 2011

LIFE ON THE ROAD

We're winding down the Stuffed and Unstrung tour. Three performances left: Gainesville. Melbourne. Miami. It's been fun...but life on the road is a challenge. It wouldn't be so bad if we could just do show after show. The shows are great. Performing is fun. It's all the stuff we do in between shows. Like...traveling. Hotels. Motels. Bus rides. Checking in. Checking out. Laundry. And waiting. Waiting for call time. Waiting for the bus. Waiting for something. I have been reduced to a mere child. I have no means of getting anywhere on my own. I must wait until others see fit to tell me where I'm going and provide the mode of transportation that will get me there.

I could walk. But where? I tried that in Muncie, Indiana. I walked for about a mile until it occurred to me that I didn't really have anyplace to go. There was a place across the street from our motel called, Rural King. But I didn't need a combine. I mean, combines are neat, but one would never fit in my luggage. For a nano second I kinda thought it would be fun to drop my daughter off at school in a combine. But, ever the rationalist, I quickly put the thought aside after a few hours. I considered buying a really cool hunting blind. I have no idea what that is, but at $1,795.00 it seemed like a bargain.

We're now in Florida and have been traveling in rock-star style in a tour bus. After each night's performance, we pile on and hit the road. We drive into the wee hours of the morning. We each have a little cubby to sleep in...complete with a curtain. The cubbies are sort of like coffins. Only, you're not dead. But you do look like it. With little room above you, there's no option but to fold your arms on your chest like a peaceful dead person.

Now that I've gone through this experience I have no fear of death. It's just like being in a cubby on a tour bus at 3am in the middle of Florida.

Did I mention that the cubbies look like coffins? Cuz they do. I don't think I'd freak out now if some crazy person kidnapped me and put me in a box and buried me in the ground. Maybe a little. But I'd overcome my fear by remembering being in my little coffin cubby on the tour bus.

Cuz it's a lot like a coffin.

I mentioned that. Right?


5 comments:

  1. So, on the bus, where you sleep, is the cubby sort of like a coffin?

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  2. I have a question for Mr. Rugg. Yes, when you write this stuff, how do keep from falling on the floor and laughing so hard your sides hurt and you almost throw up? Just wondering. Because a similar phenomena overcomes me when I read your blog.

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  3. "So, on the bus, where you sleep, is the cubby sort of like a coffin?"
    I don't know... I think if it was like this, he would have mentioned it, don't you agree? :)

    @Rebekah
    Reading Paul's blog almost makes you throw up?
    That statement alone sounds weird, without the context ;)

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  4. love the idea of having bunk beds that look like coffins! We need another set of bunks for our boys, we dont have enough space in our bus.
    Did you say that you slept in the bunks while you are driving? how do you not fall off the bunks?
    Cheers
    Lisa

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  5. Are you trying to say his story is bunk?

    With all this time spent in a coffinesque cubby, Paul, you may want to check to see if you're now a vampire.

    Of course, these days vampires are considered cool. For some reason, though, I keep wanting to type "campfire" instead of "vampire" (I've done it all three times now!). I don't know if campfires are considered cool these days. Come to think of it, they're fire, so they can't be cool, can they? Whereas vampires (all four times!) are dead, therefore they should indeed be cool.

    ReplyDelete