3rd time's the charm

I'm sitting here in TC listening to Cash's "God's Gonna Cut You Down" and talking to my friend Floyd. We are discussing how the people you are with, and how the places you choose to go shape you. Its amazing how many people don't realize this. They just mix with people, and they slide into it. Its slow, you can barely tell its happening if you don't pay attention. Its easier to observe from the outside standpoint.

For example you can watch a kid who has never done drugs become friends with people and then slowly develop into a pothead and they have no idea of the change. I remember two friends saying "Drinking is stupid, I'll never do that" and 3 years later they are pro alcohol. I can tie directly who the guys were who changed their minds. But they themselves never remember the changes, for them its just a clean flow.

I can follow the changes in my life, I can remember the big changes. Sometimes something happens and its like flicking a switch and BAM you are a different person. Dad's death changed me.

Going to, and living in, Phoenix also changed me. Riding cross country alone gave me a confidence I've never had before. Living in Phoenix, the people I became friends with were so different than anyone I'd ever known before. And they helped reshape me. I mean the basic personality remains the same, and they really liked me for who I was, but the culture... before Phoenix I'd never have considered Tattoos, now I have 2, and will probably get more. Before dad died I'd never have smoked, now I smoke a pipe and deeply enjoy it.

Would I have loved motorcycles so much if Dad hadn't? If dad had loved Harleys would I? Would I still be an English bike nut?

We are shaped by the people around us.