My Favorite Songs Remind Me of My Favorite People and Places

Shampoo.
Multiple pairs of shoes.
Purple bathing suit.
Black bathing suit.
Sunblock.
Phone charger.
Ipod charger.
Ipod.

On rare occasions, when I go on vacation, I try to only pack the essentials. No unnecessary clothes. No unnecessary accessories. But anytime I travel my iPod is an essential. I need it. It keeps me occupied. It keeps my mind wandering.

This vacation would be to Plymouth, Massachusetts about an eleven hour car ride from Pittsburgh. Eleven hours in a car; I couldn’t wait. I enjoy long car rides. I put my headphones in and stare off into the distance watching the road ahead grow bigger as the road behind becomes a dot in the distance. It was still dark out when we started out on the road. I tried to fall back to sleep. It was impossible. The car tires rumbling along the pavement, weaving out of lanes to pass slow traffic, my head bouncing off of the window. I sat up, dug my iPod out of my bag, and relaxed into my own little world. The sun starts to peek through the mountains as we drive across Pennsylvania.

Hand out the window
Floatin' on air
Just a flip of the wrist
And I’m wavin’ you goodbye

Hours into the trip signs read Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. I know someone from Wilkes-Barre, but he’s away now. Then, we climb this rode on the edge of a mountain. We’re close to New York. The sun shines brightly over green colored hills of trees. Shadows from the clouds move across the mountains. Port Jervis, exit 1, keep right. Port Jervis. I met a Mike from Port Jervis when my best friend and I vacationed in Ocean City, MD. We were fourteen. He and his friend were fifteen. We thought we were something else then.

I heard about your trip.
I heard about your souvenirs.
I heard about the cool breeze, in the cool nights,
And the cool guys that you spent them with.

Massachusetts air was unlike anything I had ever breathed before. It was light, fresh, and clean. The coast was breezy. The beaches rocky. Our vacation home was perched on a cliff overlooking our own little sliver of the cape. I walked along the beach during low tide collecting sea glass, my iPod tucked gently in the strap of my bathing suit. I felt the wind flow through my hair and the water gently wash over my feet.

So long sweet summer,
I stumbled upon you and gracefully basked in your rays.
So long sweet slumber,
I fell into you now you’re gracefully falling away.