Saturday morning, February 25th, I woke up at 4 am. I actually don't remember waking up at that time because I was so tired. But I did, because that's when my alarm clock was supposed to go off and I know for a fact I wasn't late. So apparently I woke up on time, gathered my snare drum, mallet bag, and music, and set off down the road with my dad in the driver's seat. I actually don't remember anything before I-295.
Of course, due to the fact that it was almost 5 am, it was still dark outside. I was also half-delusional with nerves and exhaustion. I remember staring ahead of us at the road, with Repo! The Genetic Opera blasting into my ears. The reflectors on the sides of the highway were the only things visible, because there were hardly any other cars on the road at that time of the morning. I could see about a half-mile ahead of us, and I watched the reflectors fade into darkness, or sometimes curve like the tracks of a roller coaster into the trees. For some reason I was reminded of Space Mountain in Disney World. I know I spent a good 20 minutes just staring at the reflectors and subdividing my music in my head. I marveled at the things I had never noticed about the songs before, because I'd never listened to them that closely in such a silent atmosphere.
Whenever we came across another lonely car on those highways, I wondered what bought them there at such an obscene time of morning. Were they going to states auditions too? Were they perhaps my competition? Or were they making a road trip? Maybe they were on their way to work....or possibly on their way home, if they had the misfortune to work night shifts. I wonder if the people in those solitary cars were wondering the same things about me, or if they were just tired like I was and didn't really care. It was a lonely trip, and my mind was in some strange places.
Around about 5:30 the sky started to slowly turn from black to indigo to navy to teal and suddenly it burst into color. We were heading west, so of course the sunrise was behind us the entire time. Looking out the front window, I still saw darkness, with the shapes of trees and distant mountains beginning to appear. I watched the sunrise in the passenger side mirror. It was another glorious dawn, and it lasted for 2 full hours, since we were driving away from it the entire time. I took it as an acknowledgement to all of my efforts that I had the privilege to watch something that beautiful for so long.
Another benefit was the fact that I'd never driven through the mountains before, so that was quite a unique experience. I'd never seen mountains so massive, and I'd never looked out of my car window to see a sheer cliff face 10 yards away. Rocks and dirt protruded in geometric shapes from the mountainside, and I tried to take pictures with my phone but failed due to the sun's glare and the speed at which we were moving. Every once in a while I'd see a grand and isolated house perched in a bald spot on the mountainside, overlooking the valleys and pastures filled with cows, sheep, and horses. It struck me as an especially serene place to live. If I ever lived on a mountainside, I'd wake up every morning and make hazelnut coffee to watch the sun peek over the edge of my world.
It snowed briefly during the drive. For literally about two minutes, there were flurries in the mountain air, mixing in with the thick fog that the sun had not yet burned away. I'd never seen snow in the mountains either. So that was another first to mark off of my list.
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