I have begun my new school year of commuting from Denton. When I set off for work the first time, last Friday, we didn’t have a map or an internet connection — typical right after you move — so all I could do was could do was shortcut blindly across the unincorporated area between us and the 35W freeway. I drove out the back of the subdivision and turned south by southwest — south being the direction of my job, and west being the direction of the freeway.

It struck me right away that the roads were narrow and winding, speed limits posted as low at 20 mph, but the scenery was beautiful. It seemed hard to believe but I had to admit — the countryside looked very much like my old home stomping grounds in the Sacramento valley of Northern California, right down to the metal stock fences and oak trees. There were actual rolling hills out here. I passed Denton Country Club, and numerous hobby farms with horses and cattle in the pastures, and even a place that advertised “full service horse boarding.”

The road was bumpy and slow, but in only about six miles I made it to the freeway, and got on the 35W somewhere on the Denton side of the race track and Dale Ernhardt expressway. It’s hard to forget that driving is a dangerous thing. My father hammered that home to me that many years ago before I got my driver’s license. And seeing an exit named after the fallen stock car driver sends the point home. But despite the need to be always careful and vigilant about safety, driving a long way (about 42 miles) to work for an hour each morning and night isn’t entirely a bad thing. As I drive, I reflect, I listen to music, I make plans, I give thanks … I wonder a lot. I experience memories, that come flashing up from long long ago, like the memories of horses and trails that the countryside around our house draws up.

I don’t expect to go out and find out about the place that boards horses, but I don’t rule it out, in the long run if I every have time and money. I leave every morning now at 6 and get home at 5. It’s a long day, so long that before I agreed to do it I passed almost all my remaining household chores on to others in the family. Just today, Dean was enrolling the kids in school, something I used to take care of. They came back full of excited reports about the classes they planned to take and the characters they’ve met already.

Each night I eat dinner with family, read or watch a movie, get my things ready for work, and set the alarm for 5 a.m. And in the morning I journal, eat oatmeal, make coffee, pack lunch, push the button that opens the garage door, and then back the car out of the driveway and go south by southwest, a trip of many facets, through a landscape of meditation and memory. I say a prayer to be safe, and I think that overall, it’s okay, at least for today.