DRIVING
When my son was much younger, we lived an hour outside Austin. And every week morning, I would drive the commute to this special little school making a pitstop at Round Rock's Burger King off I-35 to pick up another child to tote him the rest of the way. Then, replay it all back again at the end of the school day.
Driving can be monotonous. So, you do things like memorize exit signs or wager with yourself which lane is going to move faster once you actually hit the morning rush. You make creative judgements regarding out-of-state license plates. You watch for teen drivers running late for school. Eventually, you get wise and learn to manipulate the service roads until you've cut 10 to 15 minutes off the commute. There was a prayer I'd often repeat at a red light: Green, God, Green. The kids still say that one. I love it, too, because God never fails them...but it is a lesson in timing.
Anyway, one thing that I began to do that made the commute so enjoyable was to write lyrics and melodies. I got a recorder and tried to input story ideas or write poetry but I found it too distracting. For some reason, singing came effortlessly while allowing me to maneuver my way past, what seemed like, an ever increasing traffic flow.
Save one, all the songs I'm in the studio working on now came from this commute. One for my mother. Another that reminds me of my late aunt. And a couple of others. I'm taking my time with the music. Just got it all on cruise control. Just like those old days when I was headed into Austin City Limits.