Sunday, November 9, 2008

Ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch Changes

While driving I normally listen to either country music or classic rock, sometimes oldies. My commute to work is 33 miles one way (actually 32.7 as my mother would say), so I have a little time to listen to music or whatever catches my fancy. Sometime during the presidential campaign I became more civic-minded than I usually am and actually wanted to know what the candidates stood for. When I left for work one night one of the debates was about to begin, so I started searching the radio stations for a news station that might be broadcasting it. I came across a station which was coming in clearly and was carrying the debate, and the time passed very quickly on my way to work that night.

I was either too lazy to change the station . . . or could it be my mind was actually open to trying a radio station that had more to offer than just the same old music? Anyway, I kept the radio tuned to this public broadcasting station and found that I was enjoying not only the news programs but the music--sometimes classical, sometimes jazz, and I swear I think I heard some downright hillbilly music one night. On Sunday nights there is a program called "The Infinite Mind" which can be about anything from insanity to telling lies to brilliance in music. I hardly ever change the station anymore.

Then today I was in a mood which I cannot describe. I needed to do some shopping at one of those well-known super stores that are open 24/7. There are several of them within short distances of my house, but for some reason I wound up on the east side of Athens. On the way there my public broadcasting station started to get a little fuzzy, so I searched for something else. What I found was the college radio station. It happened to be Alumni Weekend at the station, which meant former students who had worked at the station came back and were allowed to play anything they pleased. It was great! There was music I had never heard but enjoyed very much, and artists I had mostly never heard of but will seek out now. I found myself even laughing at some of the songs--so bold and raucous. I had forgotten how different the programming is on college stations.

The drive home turned into somewhat of an adventure. (Lil Sis will know what I mean.) At times I decide to take a different route from one point to the other. There is no rhyme or reason. It is just a decision I make on the spur of the moment. It could be from boredom, I'm not sure. At any rate, today was one of those times. I went in search of a certain drugstore (which I found and shopped successfully) and decided it was just too much trouble to take the "regular" route home. So off I go on a road I don't think I've ever traveled but somehow I knew it would take me home. And this time I didn't even get lost or turned around. Never had to turn around and go back. Oh, I saw a couple of roads that I recognized which would have shortened the journey a little--but what was the hurry? It was a truly magificent fall day, and I started looking at the beautiful colors of the leaves. (Is it my imagination, or are the leaves more vibrant this year than in years past?) At some point I passed a man on a bicycle and thought for a fleeting moment how I wished I were riding today. Like I said, it was fleeting. I knew I had to get home and get some sleep before time to come to work tonight.

(Reminder to self: Check those lottery numbers.)

Gotta go now. Need to see if I can find some of those artists from the college station today.

1 comment:

Bragger said...

I'm so much more adventurous in my driving now that I have a GPS. Ha! Although we discovered yesterday that it says "arriving at destination," and it's up to you to figure out the movie theater isn't in the middle of the highway and can't be seen from the road.