The Drive

Yesterday on the drive home I had the windows rolled down.  It was sunny outside and the radio was blaring.  At times like that I feel hopeful, free from the day’s worries.  The stress of the work day is gone and the anticipation of a relaxing evening excites me.

I flipped through the presets on my radio and couldn’t find anything to suit my mood.  I finally resorted to the collection of cd’s sitting in the console.  As I rifled through them to find just the right one, I saw the bright blue case standing out.  Pearl Jam it was.  I slid the shiny disc out of the case and pushed it into the cd player.

As the sound washed over me I knew I made the correct choice.  A flood of emotions came rushing through with each note that passed.  This was exactly what I needed.  The music took me back and I suddenly knew why I needed it today.

Even though this particular cd wasn’t released until May of last year, the tracks were leaked on the internet a couple of months before.  The day I returned to work after my brother-in-law’s funeral, I downloaded the first of the leaked tracks.  In the weeks that followed I ended up with the remaining tracks from the still-to-be-released album and burned a cd.

Every day after work, I climbed into my car, popped that cd in and blared it all the way home.  There was something comforting about the lyrics, guitar licks, and the familiar voice.  At a time when my world had been turned upside down it gave me something to look forward to.  It was early Spring – a time for new beginnings and healing.