I turned on the kitchen light, dimly illuminating the backyard just enough so that I'd be able to see. I headed into the laundry room to scoop up the birdseed to fill the feeder. I stepped out of the front door and saw several dead june bugs on the walkway. Turning the corner into the driveway, there were dozens of the beetles littering a foot-deep strip in front of the garage door; I avoided crunching them underfoot. I quickly filled the feeder and made my way back, carefully stepping around the little brown carcasses.
*********
Yesterday, after tiptoeing around the june bugs, I caught a glimpse of my younger self.
The one that reveled in long stretches of highway ahead, sometimes for no reason other than to get away. Back then, there were no cellphones or GPS; trips were mapped out and written down on paper--or not, if the goal was to wander. This time, I knew most of the way except for the last few turns, so I entered the destination into Google maps to speak to me via Bluetooth as I got closer. The all-important roadtrip music has evolved from my favorite cassette tapes played one at a time, to CDs in a 5-CD changer, to curated streamed playlists activated with voice command. My younger self would have been thrilled with this access to music, especially on those frequent Austin-El Paso trips, five hundred eighty-three miles one way on I-10.
Yesterday's trip equaled a one-way to El Paso. I headed north, leaving just as the sun was up over the horizon. I drove four-and-a-half hours up, stayed for two-and-a-half hours, then made the trip back. As I came home, the sun was just barely over the opposite horizon as it set. Not sure I'll have a voice for read-alouds today, as I was singing at the top of my lungs both ways. But it was totally worth it--just ask my younger self, still hidden somewhere under this gray and purple hair.
I'm with you on the journey of time through the different ways we've listened to music. Do you remember putting a 33 on a turn table and having to insert the little plastic circle to make it fit. Or was that the 45? We've come so far in my lifetime. What music do you sing aloud to?
ReplyDeleteI do remember the 33s and 45s, Margaret--especially the ones that were read-alouds that accompanied books. I have a whole box of those, somewhere...As for the singing, I tend to favor pop and rock songs from the 70s and 80s, with some 90s and current tunes thrown in for good measure.
DeleteNice. Love ya, Dad.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like you and your younger self had a great road trip. I like how you included the morning and evening horizons to mark your trip.
ReplyDelete