driving across texas.

once, what feels like a lifetime ago, i picked up, left my life, and flew to the most southern tip of texas.  probably one of the most impulsive things i've ever done, but i needed to go.  i stayed with my lovely friend Y and her wonderful family and got a wallop of that famous texas hospitality.  i was definitely leaving with a taste for authentic tex-mex cuisine (to die for), new country music, radiant texas sunshine that permated right down to your bones, fresh salsa and exquisite mexican tequila, that no matter how much you drink, just floats into your blood and doesn't make you more than tipsy.

when it was time to go home, Y was to drive with me to houston, where i was flying out.  however, i couldn't make her do the 8 hour drive again (she had come to pick me up) so i rented a big red truck (of course i had to have a truck - it was TEXAS - go big or go home), packed up my one little bag, and tossed a handful of CDs onto the passenger seat.  definitely one of the highlights - probably of my life. 

the texas landscape is much prettier and varied than the flatlands of the prairie provinces - we've done the drive out there and it is quite boring. along the highway, there are huge, rambling longhorn ranches with great big farmhouses, fields of flowers, orchards and tiny little towns.  because i chose to take Route 77, i also caught glimpses of the gulf of mexico.  i watched a brilliant sunset from the side of the road and enjoyed the texas twilight.  i passed by the cutoff for waco and tried to take a photo but it was too dark.  i got stopped at one of those famous highway patrol stations where a drug-sniffing german shepherd took stock of my truck and a silent state trooper with a rifle waved me on my way.  i was actually sorry when i pulled into the bright houston airport and had to relinquish the truck.

lately, i find myself thinking about that long drive and how the solitude surrounded me.  i'm not much of a traveller, but i love long drives.  i probably should have driven all the way to texas and back, now that i think about it. 

i guess the idea of leaving everything behind, being somewhere else, just for a brief moment, is a little appealing right now.

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i drove all night.

well, not last night i didn't.  however, out of sheer frustration of not being able to sleep and being too tired to do anything else, my mind wandered to thoughts of driving, which is probably one of my most favorite things to do.  (this insomnia is becoming a theme, methinks!)

family vacations with my parents meant countless long drives in the car, (nyc, minneapolis, and even once, florida)  packed with snacks and cassettes of my dad's favorites - the product of weeks of compliling before our departure date.  kenny rogers, don mclean, anne murray... all minstrels who probably fed my kind-of-secret love for country music.  then there were the beach boys, tom jones (you go, dad!) and of course, elvis.  my dad prefers to drive at nighttime, when there is less traffic, less distractions, and the quiet blanket of darkness.  most of the time he and i used to stay up alone while the rest of the family slept, driving, talking and listening to his favorites.

i too prefer to drive under the cover of darkness.  not so long ago, my workweek consisted of over 40 hours of driving - some for the job and some for the commute - and most of it in late afternoon into twilight.  i also have a thing for fast cars - call me a stereotype; tokyo drift, much? - i've torn my way through three honda civic coupes, the last (and my favorite) with a sleek silvery paint job and a dashboard that lit up like a christmas tree at night, all neon chronometer and fiery red numbers.  back when things were also a little less stable at home, there were also long, meandering drives with the sunroof open, and the music loud.

some of my best thinking was - and probably still is - done in the car.  my commute is 30 minutes of nearly highway speed limits and rolling hills, with a minimum number of streetlights and speed traps.  if only i could sketch designs while i drive! most of the time, i am alone with my thoughts, with no distractions (especially if my blackberry is quiet), and music.  i have the feeling that there is a long-distance trucker buried somewhere inside me just waiting to get out.  or maybe cyndi lauper.

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