The Landscape Around Here...

The landscape of my face has changed... Scratching my cheek makes the sound of rustling whiskers almost immediately after a shave.

My eyes in the morning, no longer just puffy from slumber, are now showing fatigue. There are even well-earned wrinkles that sign my face with "Life was here", "Worry 1998", "Broken Heart + Loneliness" and "Sleepless Night Tour 2003"... like the underside of a bunkbed at summer camp.

Sometimes my face's age is underestimated... The purr of contentment and the shine of a smile, like a fresh coat of paint, skews the guess down a few years. But I see the months piled on and the days fading.

When a guitar has a new set of strings it sounds bright, every overtone can be heard. The strings seem to shine in the ears. But after being played, getting a bit dirty and worn in, the sound mellows. And for a while those strings sound more rich and full then any new strings could.

I prefer that rich, mellow tone to the shimmer of new strings because that sound is earned... New strings always sound new no matter how cheap they were. But not all old strings last long enough or are made with enough care to sound so rich... May the quality of my character be like that... And may my face not hide it.