When I finally made it home from Dallas Sunday night it was two am. I was dog tired and had trouble staying awake and alert. I would have stopped to catch a brief nap, but I was so close to Austin that I just drove the rest of the way fighting sleep and nearly running off the road.
Dallas is close. I didn’t realize how close until I started driving it once a week. I only need three hours to get there, which, after driving six or seven hours to see Jody’s folks, doesn’t seem like far at all. I’ve been driving a lot more lately. Being with Jody I’ve had to get over the weird reluctance I have to drive long distances. I’m an old hand now. I remember the first Christmas I drove up to Coalgate, OK in my blood-clot-red ’87 Crown Victoria hemorrhaging a trail of oil. It was cold and pitch dark this Christmas Eve 2003. The panasonic mp3/cd player thumping random Depeche Mode created an eerie tunnel of dark calm. To keep myself awake I bought a pouch of Backwoods cigars to chew on. This is one of the benefits of driving alone since I don’t know many people who would be okay with loud 80’s cheese and cigar smoke.
Yesterday evening I got home from work and tried to watch Coffee and Cigarettes. I put it on pause because it was too slow, called Jody for a little bit then fell promptly to sleep for a marathon seven hour nap, which has culminated with me writing this entry at three in the morning. I had the usual dramatic dreamery full of hotels, police chases, and homeless people then I woke up with the lights still on and my head throbbing from the heat in the apartment. The loaf of cheap wheat bread and crumby paper plate were still in front of the television where I left them with a frozen black and white scene from Coffee and Cigarettes glowing at the edge of my bed.
I kind of like the idea of DM and cigar smoke.