From 10:32 pm until 11:38 pm tonight I was stuck in a traffic jam waiting to cross the Port Mann Bridge. Translink, you suck. Just a minute while I see who else sucks. Kiewit, you totally suck. Gateway Program, you suck. Province of BC, you especially suck.
I protested this project from the beginning, and distributed a petition for signatures. So did thousands of other people. I’m sure David Suzuki protested too, since he’s gung-ho about saving the planet. But all of the above people who suck had the power and the say, and went ahead with their four-year-plus, multi-billion dollar propaganda project.
So late in the evening on a Sunday night, returning home from Monkey Valley, I was stuck in a one-hour traffic jam. What can a person do?
It had actually been an incredible groove up til this point. After Hope I got into an ecstatic flow where the white lines and reflector bumps were sailing sedately by, and highway was black, the night was black, and I was totally loving the drive. (This was before I got to Mission and city lights and two solid lanes of traffic for 100 KM to the aforementioned bridge). So I was in the zone, and I put on some Led Zeppelin to enhance the trance even more. I opened the car window, so icy air kept me awake, and got into the incredible opening notes of Since I’ve Been Loving You. From this point on I was flying through the valley, high on life and Led Zep, and the rumbly way Robert Plant says “I’m in love with you girl, little girl.”
So when I got to the traffic jam, I was feeling great, and loving listening deeply to the music and putting myself inside Jimmy Page when he was really getting excited. By now the CD had rolled around to Whole Lotta Love (I was listening to the compilation CD Led Zeppelin Early Days). Well, I just didn’t want to stop rocking, even if I was stuck doing 0 KMH and far from home. Before I knew what was happening, I started rocking on the brake pedal, and my car started rocking too. We inched forward a bit, and then it happened again. There was a slight downhill slope, and as I braked in time with the Bonham body-invading drum beat, my car hood bounced a little, and I could see the headlights bounce on the red car in front of me.
So I did it again. And again. And for the next hour, I rocked my car in time to the classic wonder of Led Zep. I found that Rock and Roll and When the Levee Breaks were especially conducive to foot-tapping brake pedal action. After a while I started to feel disappointed if we were actually moving forward, so I started incorporating some side-to-side steering wheel movement into the dance. I’m sure all the people in the right lane, which incidentally kept passing those of us in the left lane, must have thought I was crazy. Though I did see one guy smile. And it must have been driving the person behind me nuts, the way my brake lights kept flashing, especially at that part where John Paul Jones really rocks out on the piano in Rock and Roll. I couldn’t quite get the car rocking that fast, but it’s quite incredible the range it has, especially when there’s that slight downward slope to help it along. So me and my car were dancing fools, and it made that hour the most fun of my weekend, probably! I had to laugh out loud at myself at numerous points.
So I want to hear from my supporters on the Reach Out Challenge: does car yoga count, or do I have to use my Get Out of Jail Free card? Type car yoga or card in the comment box, please! And if you agree that Kiewit sucks, put that too!
Thanks to my friends and family who have pledged 50 cents or a dollar or even two dollars a day for the 30-day Reach Out Challenge. The total pledges is now at $285 dollars! Almost at my goal of $300. If you haven’t done so and would like to sponsor me to raise money for Yoga Outreach, you can use the online donation link. Or phone me at 604.251.6337 or send an email to kyrempel [at] gmail [dot] com. Thanks!