Oh Lort, Why...

The wind whipped around us on the mountain peak, carrying with it the scent of pine and something distinctly... sweaty, which was probably Mando. He was mid-air, again, in a questionable attempt to "touch the sky", a feat made all the more ridiculous by his insistence on wearing Air Jordans. "Mando, seriously, one of these days you're going to break something vital!" I yelled over the gust, but he just landed with a surprisingly graceful (for Mando) feather like return to earth, grinning like a fool

The years have moved by us so quickly it seems, the years are all jumbled up and tomorrow is still unseen. I've lost and I've won along this journey, it's really interesting to sit back and take into account how far along I've come in such a long period of time. Yeah, yeah, yeah, you probably thought I was going to say, "Such a short period of time..." but the joke's on me

I have no idea why we were on top of a mountain goofing around, I also have ZERO idea why Mando was jumping? Heights are no joke, especially when you're attempting to reach them; I'll allow that little nugget to set in for the subscribers in wherever you are and it makes sense to you

Our journey has been less a straight road and more a dizzying roller coaster through a funhouse mirror. There were the early days, fueled by music festivals, late night races in alleyways, and even cheaper dreams of making it as a rap group; the fellas didn't know about that aspiration, it just felt good to throw into the story

We celebrated and remember those nights like we'd beaten the final boss in the Game of Life, but then came the heartbreaks. The friends lost along the way, the family, the elasticity of the bonds which once seemed so taunt. This sentiment can be applied to a few more people not seen, there's no love loss just loss, loss of time and effort in some instances

There have been wins too, small victories that felt monumental. Some have touched down in other parts of the world, some have embarked upon new relationships, some have taken on new career paths, and I've continued to cheer for the successes of those whom I deem to be close, to me. Those moments were/are proof that this brotherhood, forged in shared passion and unwavering loyalty, was creating something bigger than ourselves. I'm interested to see how the cake turns out

Now, standing on this mountain, the air crisp and the world sprawling beneath us, it feels like a checkpoint, not an endpoint. We’ve climbed so many peaks already, faced so many valleys. We've seen each other at our best and our absolute worst, from Mando's ridiculous airborne antics, Bobby's lust for beer even though he had his "White Whale" many moons ago, Kenford's transformation to seeing his light, to my own moments of doubt and despair. But through it all, the laughter has always returned, the hands have always reached out, and the music has always pulled us back together, though I've skipped out on the last two years of festival life (my feet hurt thinking about being regular and not in VIP)

Our journey isn't completed. Not by a long shot. There are more mountains to climb, more songs to write, more ridiculous moments to share. The road ahead is still unseen, filled with both potential glory and inevitable bumps. But looking at these three knuckleheads, my brothers, I know we'll face it together, maybe, hopefully, probably...

No idea why this guy was jumping up there