Tuning In

I can't work the iPod in the car and drive at the same time just like I can't talk on my cell phone or read a map without almost driving off the road.  I don't take pride in this, but it's a weakness that I understand and recognize.  In and out of the bluffs, the radio signals fall off around every bend, so we don't bother to preset stations. I just hit the scan button and hope for the best. 

Joe Diffie sings "Bigger than the Beatles." I haven't heard this song in years, but I'm singing along with the lyrics like it's 1995.  Images of my first pickup truck driving down a dirt road, kicking up clouds of dust behind float through my mind. 

'Til Tuesday comes on with "Voices Carry."  I think about how lucky I am that I feel safe at home, loved and appreciated.  The nightmares have stopped. The white noise drowns out the song and I gladly change channels.

Suddenly I'm laughing as I hear the dulcet tones of Kid Rock blaring "Bawitdaba." I'm in college, living in a crappy off campus apartment on Clough Street with my Bestest Friend.  There's a gecko in an aquarium, spaghetti boiling on the stove top, and grape jelly not in the fridge. 

It's NPR for the rest of the drive home.  Mismanaged government home and abroad, sexual harassment problems for Herman Cain, Penn State in turmoil over coverups and sex scandals, Berlusconi is still an idiot, and I suddenly reach for that scan button once again.