CALICO
"I took a trip to Northern Michigan with my brother and our wives. We stopped in a place while there that had an old and abandoned house in the middle of the woods. For some reason, I couldn't stop thinking about how lonely that house was, and kept imagining imagining the house in the middle of winter; covered in snow surrounded by barren trees. Completely silent, lonely and distant. I think that's both terrifying and beautiful. To live this life of silence in a void, and here we are, visitors from hundreds of miles away standing in front of it. We would leave as fast as we arrived. But it really stuck with me. I don't really know why, but that scene is etched into my memory. In the middle of winter, is the snow covered house lonely, or happy to have its existence and simply thankful to be? I know it's a house, I know that it doesn't have feelings like we do. But that doesn't stop me from imagining what it must be like to be in that kind of situation. In contrast, our trip was full of joy and community, and we drove and hiked around the most amazing roads and trails under brilliantly colored skies. I remember staying beside of Lake Superior and eating our swiftly packed lunch on the rocks that led right into the water. I often think, did I spend enough time really taking it in? Was I in the moment? I think part of me was, but I really wish it was all of me. I should've been more present, I should have spent more time just being and taking it in. I remember seeing the remains of a ship wreck from that giant lake near the lighthouse, and having those same thoughts about it as I did the abandoned house. I remember the skies being so beautiful and colored so vibrantly. This is where the name calico came from. I thought that this same beautifully colored sky that hosted our carefree wandering, also lays to rest the old and retired things of life as well. That thought reminds me to be slower, to take in my days and do my best to be present."
LYRICS
A house is not a home
Set apart in winter
Covered in the snow
That knows her like a sister
Lonely like a branch
Fallen from the long leaf
Laying on the ground
Cast away like nothing
I drove
On a road
Of calico
Tired eyes
Sleep under the coat
Of calico
Lighthouse on the stone
Show me to the lakeside
Laying in your wake
Waiting for the sunrise
I drove
On the roads
Of calico
Tired eyes
Sleep under the coat
Of calico
And I made a mistake
I should’ve stayed a little longer that day
Out at the lake
It’s lost time
It’s all fine
I confide in the everwood
I drove
On the roads
Of calico
Tired eyes
Sleep under the coat
Of calico