Photographer Unknown
I’m a creature of habit. My work schedule, my sleep schedule, how I wash dishes, what I wear, and ginger ale nights. I don’t remember when ginger ale became a habit, but I’m reminded of my dad. A few nights a week, he turned the tv off after the ten o’clock news and read from a new novel he’d received from the book club. He sat on the corner couch with a glass of ginger ale and ice sitting on the coffee table next to him. It was also what my mom gave me when I was sick, dehydrated and couldn’t keep anything else down. We ran out two nights ago and I didn’t want to make it a third, so I searched the Cub Foods locations to find the nearest one.
The twenty-four-hour store was further south than I would normally drive to, but the closer ones were closed, and I’d made up my mind, so distance wasn’t a factor. Because of road construction, it was complicated and took even longer than I anticipated, but after fifteen minutes I settled in. I’d been working towards deadlines for days and besides an errand or two, I hadn’t spent enough time outside. So, driving with all the windows open was therapeutic. It was early spring and the air was extremely humid with the haze lit by streetlights. I made two quick stops on the route and pulled out my step ladder to apply stickers to stop signs.
Once I arrived, I zeroed in on the soda pop area avoiding distractions by all the bright colors, shapes, and desserts. There were only a few other people in the aisles including workers stocking shelves. Once I located the twelve packs of ginger ale, I grabbed one, circled back to the front to the one working cashier. When I rounded the corner I was flooded by Dave Mason songs. It caught me off guard because it was so abrupt. I thought maybe it was because he’d recently died, or the store was playing one of his songs and I hadn’t noticed. They weren’t playing his music, and I hadn’t been thinking about him at that moment. In fact, they were playing music I didn’t recognize but We Just Disagree and So High filled my head.
It was an all-consuming feeling; one I’ve experienced before in other ways. It’s not a Déjà vu but feels like it’s related. I don’t think I’ve had a Deja vu since my early twenties. It’s something else—something even stickier, not just a wisp of a memory, but more like a presence. As quickly as the songs appeared, they faded and I stood at the register to make my purchase like I’ve done thousands of times, except this time Dave Mason hovered like echos do.
“Everything I see is an echo I sent to myself from long ago.” Unknown
Songs :: So High (Rock Me Baby and Roll Me Away), We Just Disagree, and Side Tracked by Dave Mason, Took A Walk by Shaboozey, and Fearless by Pink Floyd
© C. Davidson