A Morning Drive with A Legend.

Today was a little crazy on my commute to work. People were in a hurry. A lot of people. Tailgating, trying to find the fastest lane. You could almost sense their anxiety, their worry, their hurried, frenzied desperation.

Yesterday there was one driver in a Nissan sedan that was hell bent on getting somewhere fast. Cutting in between cars, sudden, drastic, dangerous lane changes, barely missing the car in front and behind, going across all three lanes to shave a few precious seconds. Everyone else seemed sane by comparison.

Today was more constant, more frantic, more urgent. I even left early, normally a guarantee of an easy drive. Not the case today, I was stuck in the middle lane almost all the way. Right and left a parade of frustrated drivers riding the bumper of the car in front of them all the way downtown. Finally I managed to get in the exit lane and cruise to work, comfortable, relaxed and at peace.

No matter when I leave, no matter where I am going I am never in that big of a hurry to get there. It is the journey, not the destination. Even when it is really the destination that matters, the journey is what makes the whole ship float.

Driving can be a pleasant pastime, a little music, a little solitude. Today it was Wilson Pickett and Land of A 1,000 Dances that really made the drive pleasant. Oh sure there were other songs, other artists, other pleasant seconds. "Wow! Ow! Uh! You know I feel alright? Hah! Feel Pretty good, y'all. Uh huh!" Me too, Wilson, watch us "work, y'all." The driving, rising crashing crescendo, music, unbridled passion, joy and enthusiasm. It makes me smile just thinking about it.




Nothing so happy for the parade of angry, impotent, potentially tardy commuters in the other lanes this morning. I felt a little pity, they didn't understand the universal rule of time; there is never enough, but there is always plenty, if you use it right.

No matter what, no matter how big the hurry, no matter which lane you choose, at the front is going to be somebody who is only going to drive the speed limit. Or, God forbid, less than the speed limit. I am always glad to find that person, then nobody can blame me for holding up traffic, it is the car in front of me. When an angry person flies past both us I will feign mighty indignation, and disbelief, but only from a safe distance. Then stay in place behind them, you never leave your wingman, right?

How Audio Books Can Change the World.

Lately I have decided to read more. Real books, too, not just magazines, and websites about the coming election and the collapse it is sure to cause. Though, just between you and me it is pretty much over after the next election. According to my research the world is laughing its collective buttocks off at our choice of candidates. Further research has indicated that both candidates are a source of the uncontrolled mirth. But, sometimes it doesn't seem that funny here.

But, back to books, I have been reading them. Real books, made from real paper, and I have been enjoying that quite a bit. So much so, in fact that I got an app from my local library, two apps really, that lets me "borrow" audio books and listen to them while I drive.

It is a great way to pass the time while you are driving. And it is so much safer than trying to turn the page at 70 miles an hour. Of course, it is still a good idea to pay attention to driving. Swerving accidentally into the other lane on the freeway can really irritate your fellow commuters. Soon the horns will be blaring, and the sounds of skidding tires and shrieking, crunching, bending metal can really interfere with your "reading" pleasure.

Oh, and you should tell all your family and friends to stop calling you. It is amazing how awful their timing will be. Right in the middle of a sentence your wife will call and say her water broke, and ask you to meet her at the hospital. As soon as the chapter is over, dammit.

So, check with your library, see what online delight they have to offer, You will thank me later.

A Friday Commute, FlashBack,Friday, all over again. OH NO.

It was a great drive to work this morning.  It is Friday (which improves everything) and Billy Preston and I were asking the musical question "will it go round in circles, will it fly high like a bird up in the sky?" still unanswered, but with a wonderfully upbeat sound who cares.  The roads were still wet from the overnight thunderstorms, (storms that had washed the the work week almost completely away) but the sky was brightening and the horizon was smiling and gave commuters a little wink, even the heavens were feeling good.  It was going to be a nice day.

Merging from one freeway to the next and wanting to get over into the left most lane, (the fast lane) a quick, cursory glance in the drivers side mirror revealed a car fast approaching.  It is Friday, and nobody wants to be rude on such a wonderful day, so I waited to let it pass.  But, it was two cars, a black Honda and a Silver Hyundai.  And they were in a hurry, and were waiting on no one.

Pulling in behind them, and listening to Billy Preston sing about having a song that

"ain't got no melody," he is "gonna sing it to his friends.""  I couldn't help but wonder what they were listening to, maybe "click click boom," by Saliva.  Something aggressive and filled with rage.

The Black Honda made a tragic error, letting the Silver Hyundai slip to the right and go around him. Maybe the driver was looking for "Guerrilla Radio" by Rage Against the Machine on his MP3 player. Or they were an older person who needed something like "Danger Zone," by Kenny Loggins.  Perhaps it was just a moment of lucid, reasonable thought.  Probably not.

That was not going to happen to the driver of the black Honda, don't be foolish.  The car swerved quickly to the right, to pass the offensive Silver Hyundai.  Meanwhile, Billy Preston was telling me about his dance,

"ain't got no steps, no, gonna let the music move me 'round." Sadly, there was a car too close to the front of the Hyundai and the only choice the Black Honda had was to pull back in behind, stuck in 2nd place, you know it was murderously painful, too.  I imagined the grip tightening on the wheel as the driver cursed the fates, and the lousy music on local radio.

They both flew past the blocking car, and found themselves stuck in their respective positions, the traffic was getting too heavy.  Desperately trying to out maneuver each other, weaving in and out of traffic, horns honking, tires squealing.  It was going to be something to see, who would get downtown first, I wish I had put money on the Hyundai.

Unfortunately, a large, seriously large, pickup (with a "Love to Scrapbook" bumper sticker and an artificial flowered wreath attached to the tailgate pulled between me and the battling commuters, and I would never know who won the race downtown.  But there was something so peaceful in the way the wreath rocked back and forth as the pickup swayed, almost tipping over, too large, and unstable for that kind of high speed, abrupt lane change.

When I pulled up to the stoplight at the bottom of the exit, (just as Billy Preston sang about his story with no moral, and the bad guy winning every once in a while) the Hyundai and the Honda were sitting side by side at the red light.  Engines revving, staring intently at the light, waiting for the green, hoping to get a jump, both hands clutching the steering wheel as though they hated it, studiously not making eye contact.  Women can be so stubborn.

Anyway, thank you, racing, raging commuters , large pick up drivers, the smiling, winking heavens and especially you, Billy Preston, you all helped make my ride to work special.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghj5V5cUo1s

Happy Friday, all.