Posted on 12.31.2018

The New Year Cometh

As I sit here looking out at the magnificent, sunlit, snow-covered Rocky Mountains, it’s Sunday morning and we arrived here late yesterday afternoon after a long and arduous 1500-mile drive across almost half the continent.

The arduous part was the stretches of Interstate 40 where the slippery roads made it necessary for the traffic to crawl, or in some cases come to a complete halt, the longest about five hours 30 miles east of Santa Rosa, New Mexico, the highway closed down several miles ahead by a serious wreck.

After traveling almost eighty thousand miles while on tour last year, you could justifiably ask, why, in the name of good sense, Hazel and me would climb into a pickup truck at 2:30 AM and head west, especially when winter storms are dumping snow and causing icy conditions right in the sections of the country we need to pass through to reach our destination.

Especially when there is a perfectly good airport in our area with regular daily flights that would get us here in a few hours.

The answer to that question is difficult and a somewhat muddy answer is the best I can do.

But, after an extremely busy and sometimes frantic work schedule, just the two of us, switching drivers every few hours, no schedules to keep, stopping wherever we want to, rolling across the countryside enjoying views and sights we’ve seen dozens of times but somehow never get tired of looking at, setting our own pace on a route we know so well that we’ve even got the best ice cream stops pegged and the best motels to spend the night in, is still an enjoyable undertaking for us.

A kind of letting down, a period of decompression, a transition from the demands of the road and profession into a couple of months of relaxing, and preparing for next year’s storm which will begin the first of March and go through the middle of December.

And there’s no place I’d rather be than in the eye of the storm for those ten months, touring, writing and recording new material, pursuing my new-found proclivity for writing, and some other really exciting stuff on the horizon for 2019.

January and February are our vacation months, but don’t go getting the idea that we take to the rocking chair for sixty days, we are constantly doing something, going places, visiting friends and since we discovered snowmobiling it’s become a big part of our vacation time.

I’m fact, I’ll even do a book signing while we’re here, so it’s not all sleeping late and sedentary pursuits, but just the right balance of activity and non-activity to return to the arena rested and ready to bust back on the scene with both barrels loaded.

But back to the long drive, I guess you could call it a three-day training camp to get us in shape to kick it in neutral for a while, then the drive home works in reverse conditioning us for our reentry back into the real world.

Whatever the reasons - and it probably makes absolutely no sense to anybody but us - and to be truthful, sometimes, not even to us; the battling the traffic, the elements, the hazardous roads and all the rest, but there is a tacit satisfaction that, with me at 82 and Hazel at 75, we can still get behind the wheel of a four by four and make the journey, fending for ourselves, no driver to take us, no road manager to check us into a motel, no roadies to help move the luggage and no itinerary to adhere to.

Well, the old folks have done it again.

Good morning Colorado!

From Hazel, Charlie Jr, the band crew and office staff at the CDB and the cowboys at Twin Pines Ranch, we wish you all a safe, joyous, prosperous and God-blessed 2019.

Bring it on.

What do you think?

Pray for our troops, our police and the peace of Jerusalem.

God Bless America

— Charlie Daniels

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Check out "Mudcat" from Beau Weevils - 'Songs in the Key of E'

Comments

Vacation
It isn't always the destination, it's the journey. Blessings!
Posted by Cindy
Happy new year
Enjoy your peace ❤ God bless
Posted by Helen
2019 Humdinger
Amen, Amen & Amen Charlie wishing all a Humdinger of a year in 2019. I fully expect it to be one from politics to the economy and pray that God keeps revealing Himself to His people. ....nuff said God Bless Plowboy
Posted by Plowboy
Universal Hand
God bless in the new year. I hope to see you in April in Greensboro. I know you are a man of faith and so am I. My Wife and I were talking about all the people in the world that did not know Jesus as their savior. I told her lets ask Alexa to play the Universal Hand by the Charlie Daniels Band. These people were born in a place that the teaching of Jesus are not know. When you wrote the Universal Hand what was the thought behind it? I have always liked it.
Posted by Jim
In America Parody
IN AMERICA (2019 REMIX) Well the eagle's been flyin' slow And the flag's been flyin' low And a lotta people sayin' that America's fixin' to fall Well speakin' just for me And some people from Tennessee We've got a thing or two to tell you all This lady may have stumbled But she ain't never fell And if Putin doesn't believe that Then he can go straight to hell We're gonna put her feet back On the path of righteousness and then God save America from Trump And you never did think Impeachment ever would happen again (In America, did you) You never did think Democrats would ever get together again (Mueller damn sure fooled you) Yeah, we're walkng real proud And we're talkin' real loud again (In America) You never did think Impeachment ever would happen again From The Sound up in Long Island Out to San Francisco Bay And everthing that's in between them Is our own And we may have done a little bit Of fightin' amongst ourselves But you Putin buttboys best leave us alone 'Cause Liberals will stick together And you can take that to the Bank of Russia That's the snowflakes and the hippies And the millennials and the boomers You just go and lay your hand On a Me Too Movement survivor And I think you're gonna finally understand And you never did think Impeachment ever would happen again (In America, did you) You never did think Democrats would ever get together again (Mueller damn sure fooled you) Yeah, we're walkng real proud And we're talkin' real loud again (In America) You never did think Impeachment ever would happen again And you never did think Impeachment ever would happen again (In America, did you) You never did think Democrats would ever get together again (Mueller damn sure fooled you) Yeah, we're walkng real proud And we're talkin' real loud again (In America) You never did think Impeachment ever would happen again In America – Charlie Daniels
Posted by Timmy
Final Version In America Parody
IN AMERICA (2019 REMIX) CROSSFIRE HURRICANE PRODUCTIONS, LLC Well the eagle's been flyin' slow And the flag's been flyin' low And Fake News is sayin' that America's fixin' to fall Well speakin' just for me And some Liberals from Tennessee We've got a thing or two to tell you all This lady may have stumbled But she ain't never fell And if Putin doesn't believe that Then he can go straight to hell We're gonna put her feet back On the path of Justice and Freedom God save America from Trump And you never did think Impeachment would happen again (In America, did you?) You never did think The FBI would put it all together again (Mueller damn sure schooled you) Yeah, we're walkin’ real proud And we're talkin' real loud again (In America) You never did think Impeachment would happen again From The Sound up in Long Island Out to San Francisco Bay And everthing that's in between them is our own And we may have done a little bit Of fightin' amongst ourselves But you Putin buttboys best leave us alone 'Cause Liberals will stick together And you can take that to the Bank of Russia That's the snowflakes and the hippies And the millennials and the boomers You just go and lay your hand On a Me Too Movement survivor And I think you're gonna finally understand And you never did think Impeachment would happen again (In America, did you?) You never did think The FBI would put it all together again (Mueller damn sure schooled you) Yeah, we're walkin’ real proud And we're talkin' real loud again (In America) You never did think Impeachment would happen again And you never did think Impeachment would happen again (In America, did you?) You never did think The FBI would put it all together again (Mueller damn sure schooled you) Yeah, we're walkin’ real proud And we're talkin' real loud again (In America) You never did think Impeachment would happen again Original “In America” – Charlie Daniels
Posted by Timmy