night moves

I keep a mixed CD that I titled “Night Lights” in my car. It’s playlist contains songs that, to me, are perfect nighttime driving, designed with particular backdrops in mind like the Hartford skyline via I-91. Such was the case tonight, coming home from East Hartford, even though I ended up not driving through those particular Hartford lights, but the music fit the mood and the ride nonetheless.

The playlist contains songs that, like I said, have a feel for the night, whether it explicitly is about the night or perhaps lights shown at night like Kanye West’s “All of the Lights” to “Dancing in the Moonlight” to Maxwell’s “Lifetime.” It’s an eclectic list.

Bob Seger’s “Night Moves” came on, a song in which is about nostalgia and often gives me a regular dosage of it as I remember my own shenanigans I took part in after hours in my teenage years. It wasn’t until the 3 minute mark in the song did I get hit with an unusually strong dose of memory overload as I recalled events that took place last summer. “Funny how you remember…” Bob kept singing to me. I always think of that being the transition in the song in which Bob is now in the present, returning from his flashback, feeling the afterglow of strong nostalgic memories. Oddly enough, that’s when my real flashback began.

With all else that’s going on in my life and in the world right, all of it seemed to take a back seat as I let memories and whatever emotions that came with them flow in and sweep me away. Perhaps not the wisest thing to do while driving, highway hypnosis took over I think for a few miles and I let repressed VHS tapes play and rewind, play and rewind, play and rewind.

I’m grateful that I fully took in and cherished those moments from last year, stored away with perfect recall. I could probably give you a play by play of that night in particular, but I won’t. But have you ever been so overwhelmed by nostalgia that it almost paralyzes you? Almost leaves you in a catatonic state? A memory so strong that it’s on the verge of pulling tears out of you?

I normally don’t like living in the past or longing for things that once was. Yet there are somethings in life that are long hoped for to happen or perhaps happen again.

But worry not, fellow reader. There’s still hope for this hopeless romantic. This may be my 3 minute mark coming up.