It’s my first official day back in reality, post the Allen Stone Total Emersion Experience, and I'm not a fan. I mean, everything’s fine, it’s just been two years since we’ve hopped on the bus and been a real band. As my degenerate gambler buddies put it, I miss the action. So I’m thinking about happy things, hence a picture of me with a bunch of husky puppies.

I made a trip to the Yukon a few years back and had the privilege of mushing around with these incredible animals. It doesn’t look like it, but it’s unseasonably warm, a balmy 25 degrees, and we have to pull the sleds over multiple times because dogs are overheating. Their ideal temperature, I’m told, is about -15, and I’m currently fortifying myself with a little whiskey just recalling that fact.

I love the Northern Territories: there’s something oddly calming about looking to your left and realizing there’s zero civilization for three thousand miles. Perennial things shine here.

I’m smiling on account of the pooches but, if I’m honest, this picture’s a little bittersweet. I’m newly single here, profoundly confused, and about to enter my voluntarily homeless phase, which lasts basically up until landing in Nashville. I spend the better part of a year just running, using the band's schedule as an excuse never to really look at myself in the mirror. I’m grateful for that time, though. It’s brought me here and, cheesy as it sounds, I’m proud of the person I’ve become.

But enough of that. LOOK AT THESE PUPPIES!!!!