The World Spins

Julee Cruise

Today is New Year’s Eve — the day Annie and I were married.

It has become our favorite holiday. We get the trifecta — New Years Eve, our Anniversary and New Years Day. All three hold deep meaning every year. We cherish each aspect — even though it means we’re another year older.

Annie’s the love of my life — the one who understands me, challenges me, inspires me. She’s wise and strong and has this endless, effortless ability to give to those around her. Her ability to love unconditionally and keep believing is a marvel to behold. And for the past 29 years, we’ve done everything together and we’ve been happy. We’ve managed to make it all flow well — work, family and life — the ups and downs. All of it.

Most couples don’t last this long. It’s a fact that’s not lost on me. So, I’m filled with gratitude today that we are once again taking the time to celebrate.

And every year we celebrate, we are gifted another blank page and a bunch of questions.

What do we want for 2023? As individuals. As a couple. How can we love and support each other better? Where have we fallen short? Are we living the lives we want? How can we find more fulfillment next year and the year after?

This annual ritual has paid big dividends, because it’s a chance to step back and renew the magic. Revisit our goals, our desires, our dreams. Revisit us.

I’ll be honest…sometimes it feels like we’re getting too old to have dreams. And they feel more difficult to excavate and envision. So, we’re lucky we have three days to make it happen.

TWIN PEAKS has been this strange elephant in the room for us for so long. 😂 It has marked our relationship in absurd ways. In our wedding ceremony, we gave the church piano player Angelo Badalementi’s (RIP) sheet music and she played several cues while people were seated. When we were dating, we watched FIRE WALK WITH ME in the theater. That very day, I spotted the Giant wandering the streets of Santa Barbara. True story — I chased him down and had this wonderful and strange conversation with him where I repeated his S2 line It’s happening again…I truly believe seeing the Giant was a sign that Annie and I were traveling the right road together.

On our honeymoon, we spent time in Seattle and visited Snoqualamie. We stayed in the Great Northern by the falls. We visited all the filming locations — even Poulsbo where Laura was found wrapped in plastic. We loved being in the northwest — the main reason we left LA and moved out here.

In the coming years, we got to work with the log lady Catherine Coulson and cast her several times in movies and commercials. She became our good friend.

In 2015, Annie and I got to put our great Ashland crew together for Twin Peaks Season 3. We worked with David Lynch via his iPad as he crafted Catherine’s final beautiful sequences talking to Hawk. She passed away four days later. 💔

I have this feeling Twin Peaks will continue to follow us in strange ways and mark our journey like rock cairns along a trail. These markers help keep us going, even though the road is sometimes dark, winding and mysterious. And they remind us we’re on the right path and that some kind of divine love and magic is with us.

So now, I officially close this 365 song of the day exercise. I will miss it. Looking back on it, I realize I’ve been writing more and more — so it’s clearly been a cathartic outlet. And I also want to say on record, that I left out many songs and artists I love. But this is not a definitive list — it’s simply the songs each day that came to me and matched my feelings in the moment.

This is one of the most beautiful songs in Twin Peaks. And this morning, it reminds me once again that love is here to stay, even as our world continues spinning. ❤️

Moving near the edge at night
Dust is dancing in the space
A dog and bird are far away
The sun comes up and down each day
Light and shadow change the walls
Halley's comet's come and gone
The things I touch are made of stone
Falling through this night alone

Love
Don't go away
Come back this way
Come back and stay
Forever and ever

Please stay

Dust is dancing in the space
A dog and bird are far away
The sun comes up and down each day
The river flows out to the sea

Love
Don't go away
Come back this way
Come back and stay
Forever and ever

The world spins.