Taking a Coffee Break: Oxford Town

Terry Southern, John Sebastian, and Bob Dylan appear, deeply involved in a conversation and wrapped in the curling smoke of cigarettes. Coca-Cola, creamer, tea, and an espresso are also time-honored guests to the spirited debates. Surely, there are fewer pleasures more satisfying and universal than sharing a drink and openly conversing. Yet as I sit at the table today, stirred up and thinking about the future, I cannot help but postpone my next "One More Cup of Bobby" writing until I take care of something important -- I need to get ready to move to "Oxford Town," the humble Oxford, Mississippi!

Part of the pause in my regularly scheduled Dylan writing is to take care of the move and plan my next steps. I also can't really move to Oxford without imagining that it would be very worthwhile to devote a long sheet of paper to talking about Dylan's relationship to my home state's influence (its musicians, its cities, its history). This, in turn, reminds me of other equally exciting prospects to be explored and parsed out from the vastness that is Dylan's career. And I know these next projects, as I envision them, will require study and more nuanced articulation. Sincerely, it is my hope to treat the many elements at play with respect, flexibility, and zeal. So for today I'll take a break from the coffee and come back next Saturday!

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Image: Bob Dylan enjoys an espresso and lively conversation with Terry Southern and John Sebastian, Woodstock, NY, 1964. Photographed by Douglas Gilbert.