Wednesday, September 02, 2009

Thoughts While Driving

I had considered another "Whiskey Wednesday" entry tonight. Last Wednesday while feeling the gut warmed euphoria of a couple of shots of whiskey, I thought," I oughta make this a weekly thing like other hip bloggers do. Seems many of them have some kind of regular hook to bring in the adoring fans. Yeah, I'll spend Wednesday night lightly sipping some decent whiskey and then discussing, pontificating, or spewing forth whatever comes out."

That was last Wednesday. Between then and now I have had a chance to consider the ramifications of such an obligation. Heavy thoughts weighed me down on several commutes back and forth the brutal 8 miles to the bike shop. I almost broke a sweat.

My first concern was could I live up to the higher bar I had constructed for myself? Having had 57 years to get to know my proclivities, I knew that committing to a regular anything was pushing my personal envelope past it's usual limits. I have my ritual bag pretty full what with waking up every day, going to work at least 5 days in a row, and then topping it all off with enough mental machinery to keep the blood flowing and somewhat oxygenated. Throw another "routine" in and well, one of the others might just suffer. This was my first "but".

My second concern came as an "Oh Yeah" moment. One of those moments when my mind was vacant of any thought as the pavement buzzed by and suddenly I remembered I had given up drinking many years ago. Only recently had I fallen off the wagon with my occasional intake of the Demon Rum. And while my flirtation with alcohol has been fun, I did have a good reason to stop the drinking. It had become a habit. And not a good habit. I stop short of saying I was an alcoholic, but I will say I was pretty much an all around champion substance abuser. If it gave me a buzz, hey I was ready. Alcohol had hung in the longest and when I sent it packing, I felt good about it. Insisting on downing some shots every Wednesday sounded suspiciously like the troublemakers inside were trying to subvert all those years of sobriety and clear thinking. The evil bastards never go away, they just get tucked into nooks and crannies.

Several days passed and suddenly it was today. Wednesday. On my way home I found the best rationalization for not tipping a few today. I just flat out did not have a hankerin. I came home tonight and looked at the bottle of Rebel Yell and nothing happened. No trepidation, no lust. Nothing. So tonight I don't drink. Tomorrow, hey who knows? Creating an excuse to drink is how it all started in the first place.

BUT - this post was to be about thoughts while driving. Not about whiskey, routines, or stupid human tendencies. Tonight I was going to relay my thoughts about my lifetime of thinking while behind the wheel, in a jet plane, on a bicycle pedaling from here to there. Tonight I was going to talk about how I have spent so many minutes, hours, days, years traveling somewhere from somewhere else. I had a whole post thought up about the odd things that came to mind while in transit. Some kicked off by a visual cue. Some teased into existence by some news clip or angry snippet from a disagreement encountered the day before. I was also going to pick away at the edges of some of the darker thoughts I have had while moving from point A to Point B. I mean, I cannot possibly be the only one who has had evil or nasty thoughts. I assume we all do from time to time. At least that is my hope. Certainly the variety of evil people, things and deeds written about over the years would indicate I am not alone.

My failure to deliver on the idea of this post as originally intended only proves the strongest underpinning for why I should not try to commit to a weekly post that has the same focal point or starting point each week. Hell I can't even keep the same thought in line for more than a minute or two. Maybe next time.

So goodnight to all you other Space Cadets out there.........You know who you are if you know what I mean........


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4 comments:

El Cerdo Ignatius said...

Sir, I can so relate. Much better to have a belt when you feel like it, and to blog when you feel like it and have something to share, than to have to do these things because the calendar says so.

Some, like me, take this "no schedule" concept a little too far, or at least that's what others say. I say keep to the non-linear approach.

It's funny that you should touch on the subject of thoughts while driving. Some (actually, most) of my best thinking over the past 25 years has happened while I've been driving. Alone.

Demeur said...

That truely captured the sense of the road. I'm sure you recall driving from one town to the next late at night only to wonder how it was you got there.

Randal Graves said...

El Cerdo speaks the truth. Whiskey or not, inspired or not, throw something in the electrons when you feel it's the 'what the hell' thing to do.

I've never had an evil thought.

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