Not to beat a dead horse ... or any horse for that matter ... but for the sake of your well-being, take time to stop

     My frustration with not having time to turn off the road and explore things I'm curious about has started to pay dividends. At the rate I'm going, I'll soon have a Web site (www.myyearning.com), be selling bumper stickers (Stop the Car, Fool! Life Is Short!) and organizing a support group for commuters on tight schedules. 

     Flights of fancy aside, the white barn and the "Eggs $2.00 Doz." sign above and left are real-life landmarks in Elkhorn, Mo., a community with a K-8 school, farms and a business that's no longer open (Elkhorn Rustics) that I can only guess was once an antique-collectibles store.

     

     What it really was doesn't really matter. What makes a difference for me is how I've internalized these places and my related commuting frustration in a song ("Turn Off My Phone"). I've been working on recording it as money will allow and, if I were a well-to-do techno wiz, I'd be able to post it here along with the photos and lyrics (below) for a true multi-media, cross-marketeering, triple-threat, lollapalooza of an experience. For now, we'll just have to settle for two out of three. Who knows, maybe the lyrics and photos will spark your imagination or be relevant to something you've experienced.

Turn Off My Phone   2011

I found myself wondering

What I’d do if I were free

Something simple

Maybe buy some eggs*

At the white barn by the road

Turn off, take off my shoes

Watch the horses grazing there

Drive forever

Or ‘till the road ends

Whichever comes last

I could drive down Tree Farm Road

Just to see where it goes

Stop at the Elkhorn store

Find out what it once was

Marvel at the hills

Lit by the sunrise

Get down on my knees

Smell the earth

Lie on my back

Turn off my phone

I run with my head down

From here to there

Then back again

Always wonderin’

Too busy to stop

Put off some things I want

Little Egypt Road

Someday I’ll know what is there

Once a town

Now a ghost

Across the tracks in nothing flat

I could drive down Tree Farm Road

Just to see where it goes

Stop at the Elkhorn store

Find out what it once was

Marvel at the hills

Soft lit by the sunrise

Get down on my knees

Smell the earth

Lie on my back

Turn off my phone

Get down on my knees

Smell the earth

Lie on my back

Turn off my phone

When I’m free

I won’t need one any more

* I did finally find occasion to stop and buy a dozen eggs. They were on the small side, so the person who raises the hens gave me 18 for the price of 12. Cooked up, they're delicious and far yellower than mass-produced grocery eggs. Someday, more about the white barn by the road.