roadtrip: thoughts

one: I thought I would be bored out of my mind after a few hours driving solo. So not the case. I think I could've driven for days, not interacted with another human being, and been perfectly content.

two: There is something about wildflowers that makes me want to get my hippie on.

three: There is something about big sky and the smell of cow poop that makes me want to marry a cowboy and live on a ranch. In Texas.

four: I now have an awesome tan on my left arm.

five: I am now incapable of driving without thinking about and fighting for the 'inside track'. You did this to me, Brad Kresge!

six: I love country music, but is there anything worse than patriotic country songs? Ish.

seven: the only social interaction on the road: exchanging looks of mutual disgust. The other driver because my driving is messing up his or her groove; me because he or she is a jerk driver (probably Iowan).

eight: Car-dancing, with no one around to witness my sweet moves, is a real pity.

nine: clouds on the horizon always stir up my creativity. I imagine beautiful, South-African mountains them. Even while driving through Iowa.

ten: freshly-cut wheat, tasseled corn, layered clouds, farm houses, the horizon in every direction - from these I gain inspiration. I must put myself in country settings such as these more often, it's good for my soul.

roadtrip: drivers

Somewhere in the middle of Iowa, I decided to go all 'Stuff Christians Like' and compile a list of the the kind of drivers you encounter on long stretches of highway.

1. business people: they are usually sharply-dressed, incredibly aggressive, and have a superiority complex - and they have it bad! Similar, I suppose, to those who ride in first class (according to Brian Regan).

2. college girls: they are all on their phones and tend to drive like idiots. Hey, it is what it is.

3. college guys: generally laid-back and/or distracted and have fast food trash in the rear window.

4. truck drivers: I believe I have sufficiently expressed my feelings concerning this particular breed.

5. moms: most often frazzled and hurrying somewhere, and are personally offended by your poor driving. personal speculation: they are over-worked, under-appreciated, and your driving (while her children are complaining in the back seat) is the last straw.

6. the elderly: no matter how poorly they drive, you simply cannot be upset with them.

7. the jerks who speed up and tail you while you're trying to pass a semi: these come in all shapes and sizes and they're all punks.

8. and then there's me: windows open, country music blasting, soaking up inspiration from the cornfields and open air, and madly scribbling thoughts before they float away.

Did I miss any?

roadtrip: truck drivers

I hold serious grudges against the semis that pass me on the road. I feel all unsettled inside until I have regained my appropriate position somewhere ahead of it on the highway. While I was driving home from Nebraska on Wednesday, there was one bully of a semi who passed me and triggered this thought:

Truck drivers are always being passed on the road and they know full well that no one likes them. They have major self-esteem issues, I'm sure. Every once in a while, you find a driver who can take this passive aggression no longer and asserts himself with the power-play that is passing the puny vehicles all around him.

Do you feel better about yourself now that you've bullied all the weaker vessels? How do you live with yourself, monstrous hunk of metal?