Bob Dylan's meandering through my life

I had my "coming of age" years through the 60's, and the music of that era had a big impact on me at the time, and since. I was a pretty much "eclectic" music fan through that era, listening to a lot of radio. Music was always a "backdrop" to what ever was going on in your own life, and the wider world around you. Dylan, in my junior high and early high school years, was just one of the many, to be honest. You knew the "big" songs, the "hits"- LIke a Rolling Stone, Blowing in the Wind, etc. The ones that would end up on the Greatest Hits collection, and you knew he was BIG, and influential, but you also had your long list of other favorites and had them ebb and flow, including the "one hit wonders" etc. My brother was two years older, and when he went off to college, and returned for the school breaks, I think that might have been when I began to hear about Dylan in a more intriguing and "paying attention" way. I had albums before that, Beatles, Stones, etc. but to be honest, I probably didn't really know specific Dylan albums until this time. I probably actually got "started" knowing his music more intently with "Bringing it all back home, blonde on blonde, highway 61 revisited- which at the time were "middle albums"!!!!
Then the Greatest Hits Volume II was a big thing for me, cause it fleshed out the first volume greatest hits with some that you knew, but it also had these unknowns from the Basement Tapes / The Band / Music from the Big PInk era, etc. Then John Wesley Harding and Nashville Skyline, and by then, I was "hooked" on his ever evolving styles and accompanying musicians.
As I dropped out of college and was doing quite a bit of traveling and "seeking"- That's when Blood on the Tracks came out, and (in hindsight, as a number of reviewers and music critics have cited)- this was quite a landmark album- these were the first Dylan songs I began playing on the guitar- wailing away "idiot wind" etc. You're gonna make me lonesome when you go"-
Desire, and the violin intro in his songs was also nice, with those long story songs.
I didn't really react badly to his "born again" phase- I equally liked, and still do, a lot of songs on slow train coming quite a bit- I use "when ya gonna walk up and strengthen the things that remain" as one of my philosophies on life actually- that there's a bunch screwed up with the world, but we might as well strengthen the things that remain........
I hung in their buying those albums, I think "every grain of sand" is also among the greats.
I lost track of Dylan somewhat, raising a family through the 80's and into the 90's- there was school events, sports, etc. etc. etc. But you always perked up with some latest news about Dylan, and as I aged, my appreciation and "tolerance" for his everchanging ways grew also, there were always plenty of other "critics" enough to go around, so I could just acknowledge that someone with that incredible history of creativity and impact could "do whatever he wanted to" and that was okay with me.
I liked the 2000's albums just fine, and liked that many critics were positive about them. After hearing the two songs that Stone Road played off of Modern Times, I was particularly excited by their interpretations, and once again struck by the powerful impact of his overall body of work, and how it can constantly be making people happy about music.
Happy Birthday, Bob.