My Brain on Cruise Control

With an 8 hour drive ahead of me from Seattle, Washington to Missoula, Montana, I wondered what my brain would do with all that “down time”. So I decided to take a digital recorder with me and whenever I started to think about a new subject, I’d take note. I have no idea whether I’m typical or completely out there on the lunatic fringe, but I thought it would be an interesting little experiment. So what follows is a look into my idle brain.

In between long periods where my mind seemed to simply hum along with the sound of my tires, I recorded these thoughts:

• Did I leave burners on? I’m sure I checked… But did I?
• Have I forgotten anything?
• I hope my dog Devo doesn’t pee in the car.
• I wonder if I’m passing Bill Gates on the highway?
• It’s so nice to see something different for a change.
• Why is my GPS not speaking to me?
• Raining so hard I can’t see out the window. Wish I could afford a car with a working defogger.
• Devo insisted I stop to let him pee less than a half hour down the road. I suppose it would be worse with small children.
• After listening to an NPR story, I need to add The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat to my “must read” list, which is becoming so long that I fear I’ll never catch up.
• My windshield wipers refuse to turn off. Great.
• Do dogs’ ears pop when we come down from the mountains like mine do?
• Devo is sitting beside me. He’s my best friend. Blue is sound asleep in the back.
• Heading into Big Sky country. I can breathe again. I never realize I’m not breathing until I start breathing again.
• Drove for 2 hours before I remembered I have cruise control. It’s not something I can use in the gridlock of Seattle.
• I wonder what farming life is like? Lonely. Fulfilling. Hard.
• I took this same route in reverse a year ago when I drove across country from Florida. I was so different then. What a year it has been.
• Lots of talk about the forest fires on the radio. A sign outside of someone’s house: “Firefighters, it’s only a house. Take care of yourselves.”
• Ideas for blog entries.
• After seeing an out of date billboard on the subject: There’s a TESTICLE festival? Seriously?
• You know you’re in trouble when the only radio stations you can get are gospel and traditional Mexican folk music. Radio is now off.
• I begin humming “On the Road Again” by Willie Nelson. Over and over and over and over…

Author: The View from a Drawbridge

I have been a bridgetender since 2001, and gives me plenty of time to think and observe the world. View all posts by The View from a Drawbridge