I joke that my world is between my house and downtown. Anything outside of that circle is too far to do on a regular basis. So, anytime I head out of town, even just to visit friends ‘out in the county’, feels like a roadtrip. July has had all sorts of roadtrips – near and slightly far, solo and the entire family.

The air conditioning in my car is busted, but honestly, I prefer to drive without it. I LIKE it, especially on roadtrips. Okay, so during the day, it might be nicer to have the air on. But at night? There is just something sweet about driving down a back road with the windows down. And just the right music. I have a certain fondness for R.E.M.’s Green album during the summer at night. Coming back from Baltimore the other night, I had the distinct pleasure of driving under the light of the full moon to that soundtrack. Many a spring and summer night I’ve driven home to that – to the point where I’ve worn through at least 5 copies of that album over the years. Probably more.

There is something about July that encourages the love of the roadtrip in me. I’m not sure what….I’ve completely neglected my house, I’ve watered the garden but probably (no, I know I have) given more attention to weeding friend’s gardens when I visit them and I have more sewing projects half done than I care to admit to. And yet, I go on the road at the drop of a hat, promising to tend to everything when I get back. In alot of ways, it refreshes me. After all, I do need to expand my world between my house and downtown – that circle is only a mile and a half for crying out loud. And I have August to catch up….although I do feel the need to plan just a few more roadtrips before summer comes to an end, because once school starts and everyone’s schedule kicks in, it’s hard to go out of town at the drop of a hat.
And you can’t drive to the light of moon to the soundtrack of the cicadas.