If you had a childhood like mine, it's hard to have solid ground to stand on & find peace. Life was always in flux, full of stress, anger & motion. Some of the few times any of my family seemed less agitated was on the road. Sailing down the road with the windows down, radio playing & the scent of Summer flowers in the night air.
I remember the wind whipping across my arm hanging out the window. I can hear Janis Ian, Seals & Croft, Joni Mitchell, Carol King, Carly... Strumming guitars & hollow drums, wood flutes & I'm back sailing down a black river. If the driver was in a funny mood, they might make the car jump over a hilltop. I loved that feeling as a kid. Sometimes, if I try really hard, I can actually remember them smiling, singing & laughing. That was so rare.
They hated stopping. Even though they knew eventually they'd have to. It's like they knew the moment they stopped life would catch up with them. The honeysuckle, sandalwood & jasmine would fade away. The cool air would grow heavy with heat & humidity. Life would be all too real again. The smiles & laughter would melt away & the hard lines would reappear.
My happier thoughts are cruising down the road to wherever in the middle of the night listening to music on the radio. If you're lucky flowers would be in bloom. You can car dance, sing, drum, drive, anything you want, at least until the car comes to a stop.
My advice. Never stop. Keep driving. Sometimes I really wish my feet had never touched the ground. Bad things happen when you linger too long. There's nothing where you are that you can't find down the road. At least nothing that's really going to last. Like the Grass Roots said, "Live for today..."
Cya...
No comments:
Post a Comment