Sometimes you just have to drive. You don’t even know why, you don’t know where you’re going, and you don’t know when you’ll return. But you know if you don’t go you might implode for no logical reason.
Such was tonight. A restless feeling. I was compelled to do something, but what was it? The day was nearly ending and the glowing pink colors of sunset were peering in the house windows. That’s it! I needed to see the sunset.
Fizzy drink in hand I took to the highway headed north then west, following those glowing, heartwarming colors of western sky. Windows opened, the wind tossed my hair, and a pulsing “sciebient” jam rocked the speakers; the soundtrack of tonight’s expedition.
Feeling magnetically drawn to a destination unknown, I saw the traffic thin as I got further away from the city. The matrix of overhead power lines, garbage strewn highway shoulders, graffiti’d overpasses, and mentally disturbing messages blasting on overhead billboards: “Wear your mask. Don’t accidentally kill someone today,” just felt nauseating and surreal. The city atmosphere has become so energetically heavy. All I could think was how prophetic Gene Roddenberry (Star Trek creator) was when he imagined The Borg. Hopefully, we’re not on that path.
Thankfully the cranial pressure lifted as I cleared the perimeter of the metropolitan area. Power lines gave way to wide open, evening skies with a lovely moon to the south. I wondered how far I would drive, but it felt like I would just know when to exit.
As the bass thumping jams played softly in the background I began remembering the many times I would cruise around L.A. with my sister back in the day. Top down on my dad’s little, red Fiat we’d crank the tunes, hit the road, no agenda, no map, no worries. Our favorite time together was just taking in the silhouettes of palm trees swaying in the warm California breeze and blue-purple twilight skies overhead. Some of our best times together. Maybe it was her spirit with me tonight.
Other times while driving alone I’d practice speeding around through the curvy roads of the canyons, up to Mulholland Drive, or down to Malibu beach. Once I got hold of a “Map to the Stars Homes” and figured out the route I’d often park next to Rudolph Valentino’s house. It seemed abandoned – only an occasional grounds keeper could be seen. Back in high school, as part of my drama class assignment, I did a report of his Hollywood life and felt a kinship with his soul. Parked next to his spanish style home, admiring the hollyhock flowers along its walls and the breathtaking view of the city, I imagined what his life was like back in the silent movie era.
After returning to Oregon it was not at all uncommon to make an impromptu 1.5 hour journey to the coast, just to catch a nice sunset then drive home again. There’s such a freedom in driving that I pray we never lose.
A soft intuitive force pulled me to take the next exit. Landing on the shoulder of a small, country road I knew this was the destination. Camera in hand I took a photo of the evening sky, the last piece of art to this lovely day. I lifted my fizzy drink to the setting sun and said “Cheers!” Nature’s beauty never ceases to amaze me.
In the photo it looks like the sky is reflecting in a body of water below, but that’s actually my ship. I mean,… my car.
Regina Chante 