Wide Open Spaces

Since the day my parents handed me the keys to the car, me, the colorblind-polish-blond girl, and allowed me to drive more than 100 yards to school...I have been road tripping.
Countless hours.
Singing to blaring music. ( I once rode to prom for two hours with a guy that was never shy about singing at the top of his lungs in the car in front of other people.... it was a trait I wished I had, and secretly really wanted to sing with him)
Watching the scenery go by.
I don't know how my parents did it back then. Just let me go. All the time. And mind you....I always had issues (because I'm the type of person that sometimes has issues) I was stuck on the road often. With no cell phone and a broken car. But I loved it. The car and me. I guess it was my safe place.
Today I was driving home..... and I had to stop.
I complain about the terrain around here often. But tonight, like many others, I found beauty in it.
In the vast openness of it.
In the familiarity of it.
So,I turned the music off. I got out.
I breathed in and out.
I stopped for just a second to mentally remember....the colors, the smells.

You should try this sometime... it does a body good. (Unless you eat Doritos and drink Rockstar while driving.. )