Well Howdy There Pretty, How You Doin'?

Last Friday I left work a little early (by coming in a little early) in an effort to get to the Bethlehem/Lehigh Valley region before rush hour. I failed, utterly, in this attempt. Leaving work at 4:25 and hitting the road at 4:48 really doesn't give one any advantage on 476 or 276. After more than an hour in stupid, stupid traffic and another hour of relatively smooth driving I was faced with quite a conundrum: the googlemap's directions told me to take a road that was closed. After a conversation with a woman who had clearly been giving directions for a few days (her house was right by the giant signs declaring the road closed), I was back on track. Fittingly, a ridiculous thunderstorm began as soon as the directions were given. I'm talking hard rain, little visibilty, frighteningly close and loud thunder...and lightning (they go hand in hand, you know). At one point, as I was crawling along, a lighting bolt hit a telphone pole directly in front of me. The entire time I was hunched over, driving like my mother drives in that kind of weather. In fact, I believe I was channeling my mother throughout this stretch of the journey. Or at least imagining how much she would be uncomfortable with the conditions, and imagining what she would say if she knew what I was doing ('oh my word' comes to mind, though my mother doesn't actually say 'oh my word'). The storm ended as quickly as it began. Leaving steaming asphalt and pretty views.
Something about these images reminds me of the drive from Dublin to the Kilkenny area that my parents, the poet, his son and I took back in 2006.

My destination was M.'s mother's house. M. and A. were taking a break from the city and invited me to come up and I enthusiastically accepted. Soon after my arrival there were spinach and gorgonzola spring rolls and fireflies...both of the insect and drink variety.