The drive from San Diego to Topanga Canyon is almost three hours long, all along the Pacific Coastal Highway. Grab a friend, the Beatles catalogue (which is longer than three hours, but when you pick and choose songs, it goes pretty fast) and a sketch book or journal, and figure it out. You won't have to switch drivers, and it should probably be someone you'd like to get to know better but can actually stand being with for more than an hour. You have to have a convertible, and you have to pretend you're filming a movie (or bring a camera and film a movie, your choice). I don't make the rules; I just play by them.

I try writing poetry about your thin fingers or how you grip the steering wheel at the bottom, or how you know every song but can't hit every note. We talk about friends we miss or what we should have done "that one time in Singapore/Tokyo/Sydney" and then we fall silent just to listen to the music. Three hours seem like a lifetime when all there is to do is watch the road and re-live the past four (four!) years of our lives. We smoke sort of lazily, but they're cloves so we have a right to be lazy. I love you driving my car; you have one elbow propped on the door, eyes behind barely-tinted sunglasses. You're tired, but smiling. I touch my mouth to make sure I'm smiling too.

We have a discussion about under-rated Beatles albums; I say Rubber Soul and you say, "That's just a sound bite answer, everyone says that." So what did you pick? "Revolver."

And it's easy to talk about music with you because sometimes we catch the wavelength of long nights. We slide into the Canyon and you look at me for a long moment as we sit in your driveway, car off. The silence crashes around us, and if I listen closely, I can hear the ocean.

It's only the fourth/fifth/sixth time you've kissed me but all I can think is how soft your hair is under my fingers and how your lips feel pressed against mine. The questions spill forth like a hundred monkeys on a thousand typewriters, but your kiss chases them away, at least for the moment. It's terrifying to say it, but iloveyou seems harmless when whispered to the California wind.
Tags:

From: [identity profile] favoritebean.livejournal.com


So romantic. I think next trip down to San Diego, we'll have to take the PCH. It'll be a nice change from the 5.

From: [identity profile] anyonesghost.livejournal.com


This is really vivid.
(Although I can't imagine someone picking 'Revolver' as an underrated album.)

From: [identity profile] bleodswean.livejournal.com


Just delicious. Beautiful bit of prose poetry. Can't believe folks still listen to The Beatles, tho. ;)

From: [identity profile] whipchick.livejournal.com


This is one of the most beautiful pieces I've read in Idol. Just lovely. " I touch my mouth to make sure I'm smiling too." is fantastic!

One thought - I had visions of you using a pen to write on your partner's hands rather than poetry about the fingers - maybe look at the order of the list or the preposition?

This is terrific at capturing the feeling of that moment and reminding me of similar moments of my own.

From: [identity profile] roina-arwen.livejournal.com


I love how soft the tone of this is, just like the whispering wind.

We have a convertible - I think we will need to drive the PCH at some point, the next time we are out west.

From: [identity profile] penpusher.livejournal.com


California not only lets you get away with a lot, it encourages that sort of thing. Especially SoCal. Great excursion!

From: [identity profile] waltzmatildah.livejournal.com


I recently drove from LA to San Fran on the PCH, and I've previously driven from San Diego to LA. It's an awesome stretch of coast-line. We didn't have a convertible for either trip, which clearly just means I'll need to do it again!

And I really enjoyed your entry :)

From: [identity profile] alycewilson.livejournal.com


A lovely reflective piece. I like how you set it up so that it feels more significant.

From: [identity profile] rayaso.livejournal.com


I enjoyed this, especially the ending, and the Beatles!

From: [identity profile] onda-bianca.livejournal.com


So incredibly sweet. I felt tingly inside when I got to the end.

From: [identity profile] ecosopher.livejournal.com


Road trips! I love them. There's something about being in a confined space with someone you like, and then the excitement of making the journey, the anticipation of what will happen when you get there. You've captured it all, really well. I've only got limited time to read this week (haha, like always!) but I'm so glad yours is one I clicked on to read :D

From: [identity profile] eternal-ot.livejournal.com


Ah! Beautiful...*touchwood*...:) A nice read!

From: [identity profile] halfshellvenus.livejournal.com


This is gorgeous, and so evocative of finding love and hoping will prove to be the type that lasts.
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