I was browsing the internet today when I saw a post that started a thread that asked “What is something really simple that makes you happy?” I responded to the post with something that I have been enjoying for quite some time but I am almost always alone when I get to see it, which is somewhat disappointing, though I am unsure if anyone with me could really understand it the way I do when I see it. I suppose it doesn’t matter, sharing this simple experience with someone I care about, even if it means nothing to them, might be enough for me.
My best friend lives in Troy and I live in Albany. I drive out there about once a week to play music with him. As I am driving 787 into Troy, I crest over a large hill. As I do this, I see Troy’s city lights rise up in front of me. A few at first and then a great expanse of lights of varying luminosity, altitudes, placements come into view. I find it very peaceful and inspiring to watch the city rise up before me, almost like it is welcoming me and welcoming the music I will soon create. When I leave Troy, I look back a few times in my mirror to watch the lights get smaller behind me until they sink back behind the hill. It’s almost as if the music we have just made lives in those lights, one last expansive view to bid me adieu, as if saying “the inspiration’s always here, come find it whenever you need it.”
Troy isn’t a huge city and it certainly isn’t the most impressive. But cresting that hill and watching it come into full view at night, lights shining, well, that’s something else. Hopefully I can share this inspiration and sight with a passenger who will understand, but if not, I will at least always have my rising city to look forward to.
It’s the little things in life that make it magical. Sometimes, cities rise before you and welcome you with open arms.
