road tripping

579.9 miles, 9 hours to Montgomery, Alabama.
64 mph, average.
minus a 45 minute dead-stop traffic jam, people lining the side of I-65 south like the apocalypse was nigh; i put my feet up and filed my nails, listened to npr, though about flipping out and decided against it. the day began at 10:30, when i pulled out of the driveway for what was to be the first of four separate attempts to leave Indianapolis, including one episode of the Great Naked Roommate run-in; finally got going around noon. i packed myself a few fake turkey and pumpernickel sandwiches, some lime la croix, chex mix and apricots, threw my ipod on shuffle and slapped my brother’s aviators on my face. it was a smooth day for the most part, hovering around 30 degrees C, clear blue sky and white fluffy clouds. i hit a storm just south of Birmingham, thick rain slamming into the windscreen, white cracks of lightning hitting just beyond the shoulder of the highway, using the taillights of the car in front of me to know there was pavement ahead. it reminded me of when i drove to new Orleans with matt, and we hit a similar storm in Mississippi, in the middle of the night on an unpainted stretch of highway, and i prayed and prayed and prayed, pressing my nose against the windscreen just to see, matt white knuckling the passenger side door handle, and just when i was about to burst into tears, we cleared a hill and there was a fresh line of road reflectors pointing the way south.
i thought of my friends while i was driving, both surprised and grateful my phone was silent. i thought of the shmoops, mostly when the gorrilaz cycled through the playlist. and of Theresa and new friends. a line in a james blunt song brought back a story irish told of the tall aussie, and that brought me right to Tapae Gate and the Rendez-Vous Guest House, the Montri Hotel and the beauty of Thailand. I miss it very much.
i have felt, in sharp relief, the immeasurable wealth i have compared to others around the world. the things i take for granted, a new car, an ipod and big sunglasses and a cooler of food, are things that 80% of the world doesn’t even fathom. which then led me to another thought of how if one has nothing, one is solely defined by one’s ideas, whereas when one begins to amass material things, one is defined by those. we are defined by what we have, like it or not. i think i would rather be defined by my thoughts, but i live in America, where no good deed goes unpurchased.
it’s raining, steady and soft, here in Alabama. i decided to come down 65 to 231 because i’ve never slept in Alabama before. tomorrow i’ll jump on 231 to 10, follow this to 75 and head to Venice. i might stop in tallahassee to see kelli, we’ll see.
good night.