Morning Drive

I have a fairly lengthy daily commute, usually through intense traffic and seemingly gazillions of cars. In the morning, the bulk of the trip is driving into the sunrise. In the evening, I am driving into the sunset. And while both of those situations could be scenes from some lovely fairy tale, it makes for quite unpleasant driving conditions, at times.

I realized, as I was driving this morning, that I am actually really active during this process. Here is some of what I was aware of...

THINGS I DID
-Drove 6mph over the posted speed limit everywhere except in the neighborhood and school zones, then I was dead-on the speed limit.
-Isometrics.
-Mascara at the red lights.
-Sang at the top of my lungs.
-Danced and bounced.
-Radio channel surfing when a boring song or the commercials came on.

THINGS I SAW
-A man walking down the sidewalk, leaning over sideways to the left in his crookedness.
-A massive, ominous black truck in my rear-view mirror. The driver of this truck wore a black head wrap and which also covered the lower half of his face. All I could see was the bridge of his nose and his black eyes peering into mine in the reflection.
-A yellowish-gray atmosphere hanging heavily with pollution, the sun fighting in vain to glare through the thickness and blinding me through the pasty windshield which I desperately need to clean, yet lack the fluid to do so.
-A locally-owned donut shop packed to the gills with men waiting in line.
-A large, square-head shovel on the freeway entrance.
-A young boy skateboarding awkwardly while trying to balance his overflowing backpack.
-An obviously intoxicated group of six men in front of the Indian Walk-in Center.
-A gargantuan flock of pigeons in the exact same two places they are every single morning - the north side of the Walmart on 1300 South; half of the flock is on the same patch of ground every morning eating something and the other half is lording over them from the telephone wires above.

THINGS I HEARD
-Over-anxious honking from the driver beside me.
-One of my all-time favorite songs: Unwritten by Natasha Bedingfield



-A new favorite, which I heard for the very first time this morning: Into the Ocean by Blue October



-Raspberry Beret by Prince (sorry... no good video to post...)
-Many other songs and commercials which did not grab my attention.

THINGS I FELT
-Sourness in my belly from the orange juice/echinacea/colloidal silver concoction I drank this morning on an empty stomach.
-Fuzzy tongue.
-Heat and movement in my muscles as I did my isometrics.
-Happy to be alive.
-Curious.
-My damp hair against my face.
-Momentarily and instantaneously afraid when I looked into the eyes of that man wearing what appeared to be a snipers mask.
-Worried that the crookedly-left-leaning man was going to topple over in his awkward gate.

THINGS I THOUGHT
-I wonder how Jeffy is doing while he is here at home, on leave from Iraq.
-When someone says to me, "I hear you are angry," are they really hearing me or are they just saying that because they have been trained to do reflective hearing? Could it be that they really aren't hearing me, but are just saying that because it is reflexive?
-I wonder if my father's wife is actually really scared that she got laid off of work late Sunday night?
-Do car salespeople enjoy selling cars?
-Were the lyrics of Raspberry Beret based on a personal experience? Why "raspberry"? Was it because "raspberry beret" sounds good together? Or did he just want to work the word "raspberry" into one of his lyrics? Cranberry Beret sounds good too.
-I should have brushed my teeth again after drinking the OJ so my tongue wouldn't feel so fuzzy and my mouth wouldn't taste like ass.
-Do those men value the free health care and STD testing they will receive at the walk-in center?
-A story about that man in the snipers mask being a terrorist. Hurry get away fast!
-I need to clean my windshield. I need to get windshield wiper fluid. I need to get my car inspected this month. Shit! How am I going to pay for that?
-Mmmmmmmmm.... donuts. Do I want a donut? Keep driving, Angie. You don't need a donut.
-Someone is going to miss their shovel. They will have no idea where they lost it.
-Who invented the skateboard and why?
-What in the hell are those pigeons eating every day?
-Apparently a nanosecond of hesitation throws of his driving mojo, hence the need to lay down on his horn so obnoxiously. What an ass.
-What are the lyrics to this song??? This is awesome! Who is this group? They sound like an 80's band. OOOOh! I love 80's music! When did I get old enough to be retro? I will look up the lyrics when I get to work. I wonder... is it called Swim Away or Let the Rain Come Down or Into the Ocean???? Shit. I will search them all. I have never heard this song before. I am probably way behind the times, but I la-la-LOVE this song!!!

Artist: Blue october
Song: Into The Ocean
Album: Foiled

(Editorial: After listening to this song ALL morning, watching the video and then reading the lyrics while the song played one time through, I discovered a few errors. I have corrected/added in the lyrics as I hear them and they are in bold.)

i'm just a normal boy
that sank when i fell overboard
my ship would leave the country
but i'd rather swim ashore

without a life vest, I'd be stuck again
wish i was much more masculine
maybe then i could learn to swim
like 'fourteen miles away'

now floating up and down
i spin, colliding into sound
like whales beneath me diving down
i'm sinking to the bottom of my
everything that freaks me out
the lighthouse beam has just run out
i'm cold as cold as cold can be
be

i want to swim away but don't know how
sometimes it feels just like i'm falling in the ocean
let the waves stop, take me down
let the hurricane set in motion (yeah)
let the rain of what i feel right now...come down
let the rain come down

where is the coastguard
i keep looking each direction
for a spotlight, give me something
i need something for protection
maybe flotsam junk will do just fine
the jetsam sunk, i'm left behind
i'm treading for my life believe me
(how can i keep up this breathing)

not knowing how to think
i scream aloud, begin to sink
my legs and arms are broken down
with envy for the solid ground
i'm reaching for the life within me
how can one man stop his ending
i thought of just your face
relaxed, and floated into space

i want to swim away but don't know how
sometimes it feels just like i'm falling in the ocean
let the waves stop, take me down
let the hurricane set in motion (yeah)
let the rain of what i feel right now...come down
let the rain come down
let the rain come down

now waking to the sun
i calculate what i had done
like jumping from the bow (yeah)
just to prove i knew how (yeah)
it's midnight's late reminder of
the loss of her, the one i love
my will to quickly end it all
sat front row in my need to fall

into the ocean, end it all
into the ocean, end it all
into the ocean, end it all
into the ocean, end it... all

(zayra)
into the ocean (goodbye) end it all (goodbye)
into the ocean (goodbye) end it all (goodbye)
into the ocean (goodbye) end it all (goodbye)

i want to swim away but don't know how
sometimes it feels just like i'm falling in the ocean
let the waves stop, take me down
let the hurricane set in motion (yeah)
let the rain of what i feel right now...come down
let the rain come down
let the rain come down

into the ocean (goodbye) end it all (goodbye)
(in to space)
into the ocean (goodbye) end it all (goodbye)
into the ocean (goodbye) end it all (goodbye)
into the ocean (goodbye) end it all (goodbye)
into the ocean (goodbye) end it all (goodbye)
into the ocean (goodbye) end it all (goodbye)
(i thought of just your face)
into the ocean (goodbye) end it all (goodbye)
into the ocean (goodbye) end it all (goodbye)
into the ocean (goodbye) end it all (goodbye)
into the ocean (goodbye) end it all (goodbye)

...It's official. After listening to this song about eight times while writing this and reading the lyrics, I totally LOVE this song!!!