From the time I was able to get a job, I had one. From fixing old bicycles with my father and selling them, babysitting, doing chores (for anyone) to get some cash... and... a paper route!

I think I was eleven or twelve when I got myself a paper route. I certainly didn't like getting up that early in the morning, didn't like rolling the papers, didn't like carrying that heavy load on my shoulders and walking for fifteen blocks, but I sure did like the money. It probably wasn't even that much money really, but it was something and Lord knows, I wanted to buy a guitar.

There was this one house that I just hated delivering to. It was an army green color, overgrown yard, un-welcoming to say the least. There was a little old woman who lived there, with long grey hair and always wearing mis matched clothing. I say "always", but I think I saw her maybe a half dozen times and it was always when she was running away from me. Why would she run from the paper girl? Yeah... because she was crazy.

You would ocassionally see her walking from the grocery store up the road and always with four bags of groceries. She would carry two bags, two blocks and then go back and get the other two bags and walk them two blocks ahead of the other bags. Interesting to say the least. She didn't drive for some reason, but I never knew why.

Delivering her paper wasn't all that bad, I just threw it and ran. But, when it came time to collect for the paper, there was no way out of approaching the door. My heart was always beating so fast I couldn't hardly catch my breath, but I'd make it to the door... and I'd knock. She never would answer the door, although I could hear her rustling around in the house and there would be lights on. I'd knock... and knock again... by the third or fourth time I'd knock she would turn off all the lights. I never got my money.

I recall one time, during my delivery in the wee hours of the morning, I came up on her house and she was outside. She didn't see me, but I saw her. She had gardening gloves on and had a big black garabage bag, nearly full, and was picking the leaves off of the tree in her front yard. It was quite odd seeing as though the entire yard was overgrown, but there she was, picking leaves from the tree. She must have heard me because all of a sudden, she looked straight at me and took off behind the house. That was enough for me and I hightailed it out of there as quickly as she did.

It never failed, every month I would try to collect and every month, I paid for her paper. It was probably six months that I was paying for her paper until finally I asked my father to go with me to collect. I was tired of paying for her paper! So, there we were... Dad was on the sidewalk behind me as I knocked on the door. I knocked heavier than I ever had (cuz I had back up!) and as usual, the lights went out.... only this time I heard a huge "THUNK!". I got scared, but having my Dad there really helped and I knocked again... and again. She didn't come to the door, of course. So, my father and I snuck around the house to the garage and took a look inside the little window. Now, I don't know much about cars... but the car that was in her garage was a classic. Looked brand new, for an old car. My Dad is a car junkie and although I don't remember what kind of car it was, he knew what it was and was pretty impressed with it.

I approached the door one more time and I knocked for a really long time and I knocked so hard that my knuckles hurt. I was determined to get my money and who knows when or if my father would ever come with me again, so I wasn't leaving without some money from this woman. It seemed like forever that I stood there and knocked, although I'm sure it wasn't more than ten minutes or so. But, finally... she came to the door!!! Success, I thought! She cracked the door, but didn't unlock the chain, and she hid behind the door, so I never actually saw her face. She said to me "If you don't leave right now, the bombs in the back yard will go off!!"... I high tailed it outta there before my father knew what was going on. We got in the car and went home. I never got any money from the woman.

My father did, however, call the paper company and I never had to deliver to the woman again. But I never got paid for any of the papers I had delivered for the six months prior. Auhhhh well...

Years later, I never did forget that woman. Her name was Mary, I knew that much. And I knew she was crazy too. I had only been playing guitar a few years and I knew three chords... and then one that I made up (or, at the time I thought I made it up)... I sat down and I wrote a song about her. Although I don't know the woman's real story, I made one up... and you can hear it when you play the song, "Crazy Mary".


**I added the studio version of "Crazy Mary", from my debut Cd "Remember Me" (2000) to the player below. I also added the "live" version from my latest release "Captuing A Moment - Live" (2007). They're almost two different songs now...

I was in the final stages of my first Cd. The songs had all been selected, the scratch track had been laid, the musicians had been hired and the recording was in process. I had just enough money saved up from bartending seven nights a week to afford eleven songs for the record with a little wiggle room in case we went over budget. I was excited about my "debut" Cd that I was absolutely certain would make me famous and I couldn't help but get more excited the further along we went with the recording.

I honestly have no idea where I found the time to write "Honey, It's You" as I was working so many hours slingin' drinks and spending darn near every day in the studio. It was an exhausting eleven months, let me tell ya. But somewhere in there, I remember sitting in my office/music room, waiting for my fiance (at the time) to pick me up for a long over-due date night (clearly I must have had a night off). In the wait… "Honey, It's You" was written. Yes, yes… it was about him… and the next day at the studio, I insisted that we add it. I wanted an up-tempo song to start the whole Cd, so originally the first song on the CD was going to be "Glory Days" . Very few people even knew that I sang, played guitar or was in the process of recording a full-length Cd and I wanted everyone to be shocked and amazed at the first song. "Glory Days" was pretty much the only up-tempo song I had on the Cd, so that was going to be the first thing everyone heard. "Honey, It's You" quickly stole that first track, thankfully… and to this day is one of my favorite songs.

So, the writing of "Honey, It's You" was quick. I never really wrote a bridge to the song, so I repeated the opening verse instead. I think that was because I ran out of time before my fiance picked me up. I'm not sure if I ever told him that song was written about him, not that it matters. I'm sure we probably broke up that night… and maybe a dozen more times before we were completely over.

If you listen to that first Cd, it's a roller coaster ride… evidence of my relationship I guess. Nothing is off limits to a songwriter and every roller coaster ride I've ever been on can be found in some sort of melody.