There was a moment the day after the storm screamed through Galveston that I heard this song. You see the title above, the singer/songwriter is Chris Robinson, formerly of the Black Crowes. This song played from my ipod in my truck as Lauren and I drove to a neighboring town from where we originally tried to ride out the storm. We had lost power and needed exposure to Ike and his aftermath. So. We rode down the highway. Ike's clouds hung like iron pistons in the sky and pelted us with rain bursts similar to a water sprinkler. He toyed with me. Ike played my emotions like a good song. I cried my eyes out. Holding Lauren's hand like if I let go she might die. Or I might die. You see, the lyrics of this particular song touched me in a way lyrics have not done so in a long, long time. It amazed me how this song could have been written about the Ike experience.
At this point in our journey, Lauren and I did not know how our house faired. We weren't sure whether or not we'd lost everything or nothing at all. It felt like waiting to find out if a loved one made it through a life threatening surgery. Tears dripped from my eyes like spiders dangling from their webs. The tears were a tremendous release. But they didn't want to expose me for what I felt, what I was at the moment. Terrified. Yet completely stoic inside of a song.
Lauren matched my moment in the truck and together we grieved. We grieved for ourselves. For our friends. For our Island.
We rambled further down the road and dried our eyes. I found myself giggling at the moment. Perhaps a defense mechanism. Lying to yourself works sometimes.
Thanks again for sitting through another post-Ike ramble... Stay tuned.
Go to http://newearthmud.net/mudsongs.cfm?SongID=13 to check out the lyrics.
