"Ripple" Grateful Dead

I was introduced to this song and album sometime in 2005 by my then-girlfriend Serena. Her dad was a big Jerry Garcia fan and I had always appreciated his taste.

This song is Fall. I turn it on and my mind is instantly driving through the backroads of southern Utah as the fall leaves are turning orange, red, and brown. As if that stretch of road connecting Kanab and Cedar City exists in a dream world that I can return to simply by closing my eyes.

I've made several fall-time trips out to that part of Utah and I have never forgotten to play this song as I soaked in the ambiance. And as time has gone on, each listen to this song adds more depth to its meaning. It makes me think of traveling along life's journey and those we meet along the way. Almost like a sermon of sorts, I feel similar feelings about it as I would a hymn. My 18 year old self knew then that life was only beginning and, although I didn't know where this road would lead me, I would only get out of the experience what I was willing to earn from it. So I keep going back to that stretch of road, more hopeful than ever that I will become what I had deep inside of me.