Better Days: A Song is Good for Your Soul

  • By Teri Stein
  • August 19, 2012
  • 368
                        
Summary: Teri Stein + IPod full of seventies tunes + three hour solo car trip = a great summer day filled with memories along Route 250, a sore throat, and a happy heart! I rarely get to spend a lot of time by myself in the car. My husband, Joe, and I usually go on long trips together – but not this summer. There were two events on back to back weekends that we wanted to attend at our favorite campground. Since I couldn’t get the week in between off work, we decided to drive separately and I drove up each weekend. Joe stayed during the week and maintained the campsite. It’s great to be in the car by myself – no one to bug me – so what to do? I’m going to sing seventies songs at the top of my lungs! For three hours! I’m singing, “Lay down the boogie and play that funky music ‘til you die!” We’ve traveled the same route – Route 250 – for years. Joe has relatives who live near Lake Erie and, of course, our favorite campground is there. We’ve made this trip hundreds of times, I could drive it in my sleep (not really a good idea.) When you travel the same route all the time there are spots that hold a lot of memories. Like the memorable spot where Route 250 meets Route 212 above Strasburg where we were once run off the road due to a careless driver (who also didn’t stop) and totaled our one year old camper. I’m singing, “Smokin’ in the boy’s room.” Then there’s “The site of the infamous bailout” as Joe likes to call it. We were still relative newlyweds when the gas pedal stuck on our truck. As Joe applied the brakes and we came to a stop, the truck started to backfire. Pop! Pop! Pop! It sounded like gunfire. ‘This thing’s gonna blow’ was running through my head. I wasn’t waiting around for instructions. I flung the door open, jumped out, and ran. Marriage – until death do we part – but there’s no need to go together in a grisly accident if you can help it. I’m singing, “Don’t pull your love out on me baby!” Then there is the spot of a former rest area where Joe proved what a Superman he is, able to solve almost any problem, even if he inadvertently had to lay in some petrified Amish exhaust to fix a tire. What a guy! I’m singing, “Macho, macho man!” One of the most memorable times occurred just outside of Rowsburg. Joe was driving; I was site seeing out the window when I saw Jesus. He was walking along the side of Route 250, the legal, proper way – facing traffic. (So he knew what he was doing, a clue he could have been Jesus.) Yes, it sure looked like Jesus – he had on a flowing robe, sandals, blonde hair, and a beard and he was carrying a bible. I was stunned for a moment. Because, you know, if you are the only one who is seeing Jesus, it’s not really good. Something’s probably going to come to an end and it’s probably going to be you. I had to find out if I was the only one who was seeing Jesus. I looked at Joe, “Do you see that?” “I was going to ask you,” he said. We watched in the rearview mirror until Jesus disappeared out of sight. Even though it turned out not to be the real Jesus, we still felt kind of special and had a good story to tell around the campfire. I’m singing, “So often times it happens that we live our lives in chains. And we never even know we have the key.” Yeah, seventies songs are the best and so are long car trips by yourself. I’m singing, “I just want to celebrate another day of living. I just want to celebrate another day of life.” *** A special thanks to the local band, The Moonlighters, for their AWESOME performance at the “Rock the PAC” event on Sat. Aug. 18 at Kent State Tuscarawas’ Performing Arts Center. I was fortunate enough to be there and enjoyed the great music (including some seventies songs!) The PAC was indeed rocking as people cheered and interacted with the band, sang along, and danced in the aisles!


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