I got pulled over by a cop at the end of a very, very long day. I left the house at 5:30 this morning headed for St. George. I was scheduled to be at an 11:00am rehearsal for the Nashville Tribute Band’s concert at Tuacahn tonight and for those of you who know me, 5:30 in the am is not my finest hour.
The drive down to Dixie was filled with a little NPR and a lot of listening to the songs I’d stumbled through at the concert on Tuesday night in the hope that my subconscious would keep me in the right keys and playing the right chords. To quote Harold Hill in the Music Man, I was using the “think” system.
Rehearsals are always helpful and I felt increasingly…well….adequate as the day moved on. The setting at Tuacahn is spectacular and though it was chilly and windy it wasn’t raining. (How’s THAT for finding the M2B:) storyline and stickiin’ with it?)
After the show we hugged the fans and signed programs and t-shirts and CDs. I was really exhausted. As the designated “old guy in a young guy business” I was feelin’ my age, particularly when I sang this new song I wrote with Jason Deere for the show-it’s called IN THE TWILIGHT OF MY YEARS. Oh, how fitting.
So after the packing up of my gear and anxious to get to the hotel and catch up on some desperately needed snooze time, I couldn’t find my iPod anywhere. It had all the songs I’d been obsessing over all day and normally I’d have been frantic to find it but I was so tired so I accepted the adage – in life, you’ve gotta accept losses -I was even too tired to cuss a little under my breath at the injustice of the universe. So I slinked into the car and headed for Bluff St.
Then, the pull-over. Don’t we all just LOVE that moment when the lights in the rear view mirror start flashing and our hearts start beating faster and we start rehearsing that sincerely innocent, “What’s the problem officer?” before the officer makes it to the driver’s side window. But, again, I was too tired to rehearse so my officer got this: ”What?” It wasn’t a pleasant tone. Not snotty enough to get me arrested, but trust me-not pleasant.
But the officer was! He was worried about me. Not because I was weaving over Bluff street like a drunk, or because I was speeding. No. My rear left tail-light was out and he wanted to give me a heads up and keep me safe. He was kind and thoughtful. Let me repeat. The guy that pulled me over was kind and thoughtful. These are not words that probably show up on the job description of a traffic cop, but that’s who pulled me over and it made me happy.
That wasn’t all, however. When I got to the hotel and collapsed in bed, I pulled over the covers and heard a clunk as something fell to the floor. It was an iPod. 
5 Comments
This hit the spot! You have quite an investment in your “emotional” and “taking care of people” accounts for all the interest you gained today!
Love it! Good things do happen to good people in their hour of need! It was perfect! Another favorite saying in our family is “Everything is as it should be” –Dr Wayne Dyer
Didn’t Jeff do Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat there too? We LOVE Tuacahn and its productions when we get out there to visit! Wished we lived closer but we remain on the ‘right’ coast.
I am so thankful your ok and safe. Glad that things worked out with your i pod too. I totally understand the blue and red light thing, Thank goodness it was only a tail light. Nothing like getting the epinephrine flowing through your body. “Fight or Flight”.
I wished I was in St. George and could have listen to you and seen you at the Tuacahn Theater. I am sure it went really well. Have a safe journey home.
This one made me smile! (as do most of your posts). I’ve begun reading them at night on my Iphone as I’m unwinding and heading to sleep. I don’t think we are ever too old for a good bedtime story! Thanks for helping me see Heavenly Fathers hand each day!
Michael, have you been reading Cori Connors? http://coriconnors.blogspot.com/ I know that you are more the writing and offering kind than the having time to read kind, but I think you would find Cori – amazing.
I hope that you got home from the gig okay. And I’m glad the policeman was kind. And I’m amazed you found the iPod. And I’m excited for you that you got to play with the kids. But most of all, I’m glad you’re on the journey.
You have given me hope! Hope that all behind the badge are not as dimwhitted as the one who just pulled me over recently because I did not have mud flaps……….wuh???
Yes, there is hope……….