Heading Home

I left the farm mid-morning and started making my way back home. I wanted to allow plenty of time to swing by Cornell College in Mount Vernon and see my neice, El, who's a freshman there. Cornell's a small college just south of Cedar Rapids where you take your college courses one class at a time. I had just enough time to take a quick tour of the campus, treat her to lunch, and hand her the last of the chocolate chip scones leftover from yesterday's tea.

There are those who hate to take road trips by themselves. While I wouldn't choose to travel alone all the time, I've developed a bit of a ritual when I'm returning from the farm and I'm solo. I break out my favorite country CDs from the late 1980s and the early 1990s, crank up the volume, and I sing along at the top of my lungs to Suzy Bogguss' Aces, Clint Black's Killing Time, and Garth Brooks' No Fences. My absolute favorite album to drive home to though is Dan Seals' Rage On. This album came out in 1988, and since then almost every single song on it has spoken to me on a deeply personal level, so I play Rage On twice. I start and end my songfest with twangy tunes that talk about wanting out of a small town, economic hardship, losing land that's been in the family for generations, and love that's impossible to hold onto. Yeah, that about covers it!

As I hit the outer limits of Chicagoland, it occurred to me that singing my way through the journey makes the drive more manageable. I'm able to take a nostalgic look back while anticipating where I'm going. That's a healthy balance I hope to maintain throughout my life.