Vignettes from the Van-Friday, Jan. 20th
11:26am (somewhere on the way to Goshen, Indiana)...
Overcast skies absorb the horizon as we pass the sleeping,stubbled cornfields of east central Iowa. The stereo is blasting- Little Richard covering Jerry Lee's "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" and giving the killer a run for his money. Ike is rocking in the driver's seat while Betse rides shotgun with the knitting needles. Nate naps in the back. He's quiet for awhile then I hear him open a window, then the smell hits me like a baseball bat in the nose. His gaseous contractions are now coming about every half hour. I'm not sure what he's giving birth to, but by the smell of it, I don't want to be there when it happens.
3:45pm (gas stop)...
Standing outside the driver's window while pumping gas in the rain. I have contorted my face by folding down my lower lip and sticking my tongue out, up and over my upper lip. Behind the glass, Ike's head is turned away and I watch two of him through my severely crossed eyes, waiting for him to notice me. He turns and the look of surprise is less than I expected. He rolls down the window and says, "dude, Goshen is in the EASTERN time zone." My eyes uncross and my lips return to their original configuration. I realize that we are now SO late. We just lost an hour and we weren't even trying.
4:15pm (toll road outside Chicago)...
Ike dodges and weaves from lane to lane like he's trying to choose the fastest checkout line at the supermarket as Betse reads the map and tries to calculate milages per hour in relation to stopped Chicagoland traffic. Nate and I sit in the back with our fists raised watching an AC/DC video on my laptop. I thrill as Angus Young, the lead guitarist, rocks it in his schoolboy's outfit. He shuffles his feet to the beat, head bobbing, never stopping his lunatic's dance for a moment. I realize that I learned just about everything I know about performing from this guy.
6:39pm EASTERN STANDARD TIME (still at least 20 minutes from the gig)...
Ike has collapsed into the back to rest and Nate is following Betse's directions threading his way down the rained-glazed black Indiana county roads. The show starts at 7pm.
Ahh, back on the road.
