Time: 6:52 am
Location: rest area 40 miles outside of Dayton, Ohio.
We've been on the road for about 13 hours and 700 miles.
We were apprehensive about making a long road trip with a one-year-old who's not used to being in the car for longer than 10 minutes at a time. So driving through the night when we knew he'd be more inclined to sleep seemed like the best plan. I think we were right. He slept for 7 hours straight! I wish he would do that at home!
Every summer our local radio station does an A to Z weekend. It's all their favorite songs of all time, all in alphabetical order. I love putting things in alphabetical order, so naturally this inspired me to put together my own A to Z playlist for our drive. It's over 10 hours long and is made up of favorites from mine and Alex's combined iTunes libraries.
Some selections are pretty recent favorites from Mumford and Sons, The Civil Wars, Gotye.
But most of the songs reach father back into closed chapters of my life. And because music is one of those things, like smell, that stir up the most vivid memories, I spent the night driving through the states of Illinois and Indiana reliving scenes from my youth.
Five Iron Frenzy: my first favorite band. Wearing my dad's old pants cut off at the shin, and wallet chains. Memorizing and analyzing the lyrics with my best friend. Plotting to marry the lead singer.
Mae, The Everglow: that album was the soundtrack to the summer after my senior year. Driving to camps and conferences with my youth group. Moving into my freshmen dorm. Overflowing with ideals and anxieties.
Shane & Shane: driving to the Passion conference with my brother and best friend in a blizzard. Seeing Shane & Shane live for the first time and weeping because the music was just so beautiful that it hurt.
The Postal Service: my first job at Jamba Juice.
Love Drug and Sigur Ros: my college dorm freshman and sophomore year.
Sleeping at Last: the semester I spent in India.
Then there are the bands Alex introduced me to: Cake, Mason Jennings, Spoon, Andrew Bird, They Might Be Giants, Elliot Smith, and hearing them makes me feel all the nervousness and excitement of the summer we started dating.
Night turns into morning as I drive on. My husband and my baby are asleep in the car and the Ella Fitzgerald song we danced to at our wedding comes on. I'm grateful to have this quiet time to remember so many beautiful moments from my life.
Oh, the moon's not a moon for a night
and these stars will not twinkle and fade out,
and the words in my ears
will resound for the rest of my years.
In the morning I find with delight
not a note of our music is played out.
It will be just as sweet,
and an air that I'll live to repeat:
I greet you
With a song in my heart...