Since my first recordable cassette tape player, I’ve used music mixes to communicate what I can’t.
Tomorrow night my friends are throwing me one hell of a going away party. In turn, I’m making party favors — my “Arizona –> Colorado!” two disc mix.
What I hope it says is: I love you. More than you could know, I love you, and this town and this state. I love the cactus, Camelback Mountain, always having a tan, the best Mexican food outside of, well, Mexico. I love how my friends’ parents adopted me after my parents moved to Texas. I love that I always have a place at Sunday dinner. I love my church. I love my community garden. I love the African in the guest room, even though he still doesn’t know how to run the dishwasher (or unload it) 2.5 years later. I love the schools I attended. I love the birds chirping outside as I type this, especially the baby quail.
But more than anything, I love the little ones. It’s my friends’ kids I will miss the most.
CD 1: Arizona
1. Windows are rolled down: Amos Lee
2. Far Away: Ingrid Michaelson
3. Dots of Maps: Say Hi
4. Summer Wind: Frank Sinatra
5. Carefree Highway: Gordon Lightfoot
6. There is no Arizona: Jamie O’Neal
7. Desert Song: Edward Sharpe + the Magnetic Zeroes
8. Draw Me a Map: Dierks Bentley
9. After the Storm: Mumford + Sons
10. Arizona: Brian Haner
Disc 2: Colorado!
1. I gotta move: Ben Kweller
2. Rocky Mountain High: John Denver
3. Colorado: Chevy Chase
4. Colorado Sunrise: 3OH!3
5. Hold you in my arms: Ray LaMontagne
6. Sn Hands: Local Natives
7. The Long Way Home: Norah Jones
8. A Change is Gonna Come: Sam Cooke
9. Don’t Fence me In: David Byrne
And in turn, I know you love my sense of adventure and wanderlust. And my sappy mix CDs.
~K