This is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus to use an image from my favorite sport, golf.  Out of college, my first job was as a reporter for the Daily Astorian in Astoria, Oregon, and I went on from there to practice writing in all my professional positions, including as press secretary in Washington, D.C. for a Democrat Congressman from Oregon (Les AuCoin), as an Oregon state government manager in Salem and Portland, as press secretary for Oregon’s last Republican governor (Vic Atiyeh), and as a private sector lobbyist.  This blog also allows me to link another favorite pastime – politics and the art of developing public policy – to what I write.  I could have called this blog “Middle Ground,” for that is what I long for in both politics and golf.  The middle ground is often where the best public policy decisions lie.  And it is where you want to be on a golf course.

I can’t resist this headline!

Here I am, “Stuck in Lodi Again.”

As I write this, my wife Nancy and I are halfway to La Quinta, California where we spend the winter instead of our normal home, Salem, Oregon.

Except it’s a 16-hour drive south.

So, we take it in two 8-hour days and that means stopping halfway to the California desert.  And, it means stopping in Lodi.

The song was one of my favorites many years ago as it was sung by one of my favorite groups, Credence Clearwater Revival.

Here are the lyrics:

Just about a year ago
I set out on the road
Seekin’ my fame and fortune
Lookin’ for a pot of gold

Things got bad and things got worse
I guess you will know the tune
Oh Lord, stuck in Lodi again

Rode in on the Greyhound
I’ll be walkin’ out if I go
I was just passin’ through

Must be seven months or more
Ran out of time and money
Looks like they took my friends
Oh Lord, I’m stuck in Lodi again

The man from the magazine
Said I was on my way
Somewhere I lost connections
I ran out of songs to play

I came into town, a one-night stand
Looks like my plans fell through
Oh Lord, stuck in Lodi again

If I only had a dollar
For ev’ry song I’ve sung
Ev’ry time I’ve had to play

While people sat there drunk
You know, I’d catch the next train
Back to where I live
Oh Lord, I’m stuck in Lodi again
Oh Lord, I’m stuck in Lodi again

Not all good words, I admit, but, then again, not bad.

So, I am in Lodi, not stuck again, just planning to hit the road soon for the second eight hours.