To the Places and People I Love (feat. Townes Van Zandt) | August 2025
And the temptation of summer storms
I’ve always felt that each place has its own beauty, and that beauty can grow on you if you let it.
I’ve fallen in love with places numerous times. My first love was my hometown of Seattle. The lake (Lake Washington, of course), the mountain (if I have to tell you that’s Mt. Rainer, you’re not from Seattle), and the bald eagles are beyond gorgeous.
So it is somewhat surprising that the next place I distinctly remember falling in love with was the Judean desert in southern Israel. You couldn’t picture a place more opposite than Seattle. Yet there I was, on a class trip, driving in the predawn hours through the desert and struck by an array of morning colors I’ve never seen before and feel like I’ve never seen since.
It’s even more strange, then, that I’d fall in love with East Coast summer storms. My current zip code gets these after days of hot, humid air. There is nothing quite like sitting on the porch, watching a storm roll in, and being totally humbled by the grandeur.
I feel like I could stay on the porch all night, watching the storm turn to sunset turn to fireflies.
But for all the love of place, it’s the love of people that keeps us home, doing the work, making a life surrounded by people instead of wildlife.
With that thought, I’ll leave you with some of the most lovely lyrics ever written about the pull of people over place. The song is I’ll Be Here in The Morning by Townes Van Zandt released 1968.
[Verse 1] Well there's no stronger wind than the one that blows down a lonesome railroad line No prettier sight than lookin' back on a town you left behind But there's nothin' that's as real as a love that's in my mind [Chorus] Close your eyes I'll be here in the morning Close your eyes I'll be here for a while [Verse 2] Well there's lots of things along the road I'd surely like to see I'd like to lean into the wind and tell myself I'm free But your softest whisper's louder than the highway's call to me [Chorus] Close your eyes I'll be here in the morning Close your eyes I'll be here for a while [Verse 3] All the mountains and the rivers and the valleys can't compare To your blue lit dancin' eyes and yellow shining hair I could never hit the open road and leave you lyin' there [Chorus] Close your eyes I'll be here in the morning Close your eyes I'll be here for a while
So wherever your travels through life find you, I hope you find your people and open your heart to fall in love with your place.