driving

a rediscovered facebook note from last fall. it certainly captures a certain mood...
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my life feels like one of those really long road trips where you wake up in the passenger seat all groggy because sleeping in a moving car isn't very comfortable. driving past run down factories and urban sprawl, with fast food wrappers and beer cans littering the unkept grass and ugly concrete curbs. it's overcast, cold, and getting to that grey stage of morning, but without the sunrise. you glance at the clock and see a time foreign to most. you feel one thing, and only one thing: you should be asleep. instead, you drink some coffee that is thankfully still warm, but gives the car that particular road-trip scent, and leaves an aftertaste of it in your mouth to give it emphasis. you look through the food in a brown grocery bag. none of it looks appetizing. dry bread, slightly bruised fruit. instead, you open the cooler to examine the other options, but are met by the other half of the road trip scent. you eat some cheese and salami with the dry bread, and drink some water that tastes of the plastic container it was in to wash it down. you try some beef jerky you find in an open packet despite the fact you would normally find it unappetizing. it is difficult to eat. you do so anyway. your dad pulls the car over onto the wide shoulder of the two lane highway. you get out into the brisk air, and get into the driver's seat as other cars whiz by. you get in and close the door. the cold air has mixed up the scent a bit, but not made it much more pleasant. you readjust the seat as your dad twists around with a pillow in the passenger seat. you drive. you listen to music over headphones to keep yourself awake. you avoid using cruise control as long as possible in an effort to keep yourself active, but eventually give in as your muscles begin to object. your back aches from a lack of lumbar support. you stretch. the caffeine begins to kick in, and you feel more alive. you drive. you smile as you transcend your misery. simultaneously, the sun peeks out from beyond the horizon in a beautiful sunrise. the whole sky turns pink. you smile larger. you drive.