Driving In The Dark

I have this compulsive desire to drive around the city in the dark. It’s always in the back of my mind, this desire to just get in the car and drive, but this overpowering want burst forth yesterday and has been tagging me ever since.

I awoke at 4:30 this morning as my alarm sang next to me, nudging me into the world so I could go to work. I considered jumping out of bed then and running to the car just to cruise the city with a cup of coffee and loud music. Unfortunately, sleep won over and I’m now regretting it.

Damn you, regret!

There’s something comforting for me about aimlessly driving. I’m told my parents used to put me in the car when I was young and wouldn’t stop crying. Within minutes I would be sleeping. In high school, I used to ditch class just to get in the car and drive. No destination, just the road and the music.

I remember going with Dave and his parents while they were looking for a car. Dave and I drooled over a convertible Corvette, but not for any car aficionado reasoning, we dreamed of stocking the CD changer and driving across the country. I still want to do this so damn bad.

I have driven great and hilarious ventures through dark and empty paths of Texas and Louisiana, through breathtaking and incomprehensively unpopulated roads of California, all up and down the Pacific coast. But right now, I’m craving an easy trip through the dark and empty streets of a city, Seattle to be exact. And it’s not just that Seattle happens to be where I’m at, it’s that I want those narrow streets, water reflecting all the neon and stop lights, smelling the salt and tar pilings of the Sound.

Maybe tonight, maybe…


Song Stuck In My Head Right Now: Always Late by Jerry Garcia. This is on The Pizza Tapes with Jerry, David Grisman and Tony Rice. It’s only about 30 seconds of the song and really just Jerry Garcia (a little bit of mandolin comes in at the end), but it just has this sort of tossed off, let’s see if I can remember this quality to it that makes me love it instantly. Also, Mr. Garcia lets loose one of these genuine and open laughs at the end that makes me smile and makes me want to cry.