lion's mane

I have the habit of listening to iron and wine on my way home in the summer evenings. I take the usual route home, down blondo street and past the house with the tall pine tree that, every year, is pleasantly decorated for the winter holidays.

The first song, lion's mane, begins my journey home. At this hour in the evening I am exhausted from the day's activities. It is my chance to immerse myself in the smooth, subtle music. The song usually starts when I get on fontelle boulevard, one of the busiest and accident prone streets in Omaha during rush hour. My mother always warns me to check my mirrors twice and look over my shoulder when I change lanes on that street. This is a continuous reminder as I hurry out the door for my evening activity. She doesn't stop her speech on safe and proper lane changing until I am in my car backing out the driveway. To spite her nagging, I only use my mirrors to merge and only check once if there are any cars in the other lanes on my way home.

About a fourth of the way though the song, my car drifts into the next lane out of routine habit. I like having the road to myself. I feel no guilt in my greed of fontelle boulevard. Soon my next turn appears. It is the curvy road with the roundabout at the end. On this street there is always a blue car parked in front of the cottage style house and on Tuesdays the garbage and recycle bins are on the curb. I have sometimes wondered if the recycling bins and the garbage cans get scared when they are left out at night. Usually they are tucked safely away in the garage and not so close to the street. Nonetheless, their owners put them away in the mornings when they almost back into them with their cars.

After the dizzying turns on the roundabout lion's mane is about half way done. I alternate in singing along with the words and humming. My attention to the song drifts towards the end. My mother's voice alerts and wakens me, cautioning me to drive safely. By then the next song is playing and take notice of the tall pine tree and wonder how many other cars it has seen drive by.