Joyful… joyful.. joyful!

It's been ages since it was only me and the wide open road.

I used to do a lot of long-distance driving in my “younger years." First, it was work-related, which was then replaced with driving 720 km in a day to fetch my son from boarding school on a Friday, and often the same driving took him back on a Monday morning.

Since then, my driving has been restricted to driving in our town between the school and the shops. The times I travel longer distances, it is with the family.

This week, on Tuesday, my husband was taken to the hospital +/- 30 km from home. No, it wasn’t me who did the driving going there. Coming back, however, was a different story. As hubby was operated on, he was left behind. It was me, my car, and the open road.

It was only as I turned onto the highway that I realized it was me and the road again after a very exhausting day. A day filled with worries but with gladness in return.
I stopped next to the highway. It was time to buckle up and let my hair loose. I took my phone and looked at all my playlists, eventually deciding on one. I opened the windows of the car, started the car, and pushed the play button.

As I pulled off the road, the melody of not only one of my favorite songs but also a song loved by millions globally started to play.

When the night has come
And the land is dark
And the moon is the only light we'll see
No, I won't be afraid
Oh, I won't be afraid
Just as long as you stand
Stand by me


So darlin', darlin', stand by me
Oh, stand by me
Oh, stand
Stand by me, stand by me

This is the song “Stand By Me” sung by Ben E King.

It was when I sang along and looked up into the sky that I noticed that the sky was starting to color as the night started to creep in, or was it clouds bringing rain?

The next song was undeniably Queen’s biggest hit, Bohemian Rhapsody. For me, these are the most sophisticated and "outspoken" classic rock tunes ever composed. Funny enough, I’ve been listening to it all my life, but it was only after I watched the film Bohemian Rhapsody a couple of years ago that the song truly rocked my soul.
For the first time, I now understand the life story of Freddie Mercury through the words of this song.

Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?
Caught in a landslide, no escape from reality
Open your eyes, look up to the skies, and see
I'm just a poor boy, I need no sympathy
Because I'm easy come, easy go, little high, little low
Any way the wind blows doesn't really matter to me, to me


Mama, just killed a man
Put a gun against his head, pulled my trigger, now he's dead
Mama, life had just begun
But now I've gone and thrown it all away
Mama, ooh, didn't mean to make you cry
If I'm not back again this time tomorrow
Carry on, carry on as if nothing really matters

It was only when I saw the smile on the driver's face next to my car that I realized that I was singing a long, head-swinging, and fist-hammering on the steering wheel.

The third song took me closer: “to home.”

I'm sitting here in a boring room
It's just another rainy Sunday afternoon
I'm wasting my time, I got nothing to do
I'm hanging around, I'm waiting for you
But nothing ever happens and I wonder


I'm driving around in my car
I'm driving too fast, I'm driving too far
I'd like to change my point of view
I feel so lonely, I'm waiting for you
But nothing ever happens and I wonder


I wonder how, I wonder why
Yesterday you told me 'bout the blue blue sky
And all that I can see
Is just a yellow lemon tree
I'm turning my head up and down
I'm turning, turning, turning, turning, turning around
And all that I can see is just another lemon tree


Sing: dah
Da da da da da - di da dah
Da da da da da - di dah dah
Da di di di dah

Yes, here I was driving around in my car, but not driving too fast.

I miss my children!

“Lemon Tree” by Fool’s Garden was our song when they were little. Many afternoons, I would fetch them from primary school, and we would listen to it, playing it over and over again. As the story goes, the song was inspired by a tragic incident in which the lead singer’s girlfriend passed away when she struck a lemon tree while driving her car.
We vowed never to drive fast in our cars.

As I took the turn off to Salt Rock, where I live, another classic song started to play, Spanish Train by Chris de Burgh. A song that was banned for being blasphemous (disrespect for God) in South Africa when it was released.

When the ban was lifted, Mom taught us to change the ending words of the song to:

And far away in some recess
The Lord and the Devil are now playing chess,
The Devil still cheats and LOSES more souls,
And as for the Lord, well, he's ALWAYS doing his best.
And I said Lord, oh Lord, you got THAT win
The sun is down and the night is riding in
That train is still on time, oh my soul is JUST FINE
Oh Lord, you've got THAT win

I never got to sing the last words as I got pulled over by a roadblock. Luckily, I had my driver’s license with me, everything was working on my car, I was not speeding, and we renewed the car license only a couple weeks ago. Soon I was on the road again.

Thunder, thunder, thunder, thunder
Thunder, thunder, thunder, thunder
Thunder, thunder


I was caught
In the middle of a railroad track (thunder)
I looked 'round
And I knew there was no turning back (thunder)
My mind raced
And I thought, what could I do? (Thunder)
And I knew
There was no help, no help from you (thunder)
Sound of the drums
Beating in my heart
The thunder of guns
Tore me apart
You've been
Thunderstruck

It was when “Thunder-struck” from AC/DC started to play that I noticed how close I was to our "sweet home." I was going to pass the beach any moment now, and then it is only another 300 meters and I will be home.

And… I was home!

I enjoyed the ride, the songs, and the singing, but all of a sudden it hit me. My husband was not home. It felt strange...

^{All images are my own taken with my mounted iPhone as I was driving}

Read more about this contest

Vote @pennsif.witness for growth across the Steemit platform through robust communication at all levels and targeted high yield developments with the resources available.