Grace me Guide

There’s a darkness upon me that’s flooded in light
In the fine print they tell me what’s wrong and what’s right
And it comes in black and it comes in white
And I’m frightened by those that don’t see it

When nothing is owed or deserved or expected
And your life doesn’t change by the man that’s elected
If you’re loved by someone, you’re never rejected
Decide what to be and go be it

There was a dream and one day I could see it
Like a bird in a cage I broke in and demanded that somebody free it
And there was a kid with a head full of doubt
So I’ll scream til I die and the last of those bad thoughts are finally out

 

      On our way to Toronto, we traveled through the Grand Isles and Lake Champlain, with great views of lakeside farmlands.  We stopped for lunch at a small park, backed the car into a tree, and fixed a tail-light all within the first part of the day.

      Other than that, so far, so good. Trip was going off without a hitch. Nothing too disastrous. Nothing too serious…at least, we weren’t taking it seriously. However, on our way toward the Canadian border to see some good friends, is when the fun began to fade away.  When the border control asked us if we had any weapons or drugs, it was” no” and “no”. But when they asked us if we had any mace in the vehicle, Dave straight out answered “yes”.  So who would have known that mace was illegal in Canada? We sure didn’t.  So we were told to pull off and go see someone inside the border control offices to have them confiscate and slap our wrists.  Well, then they started asking us if we had anything else to declare before they searched our vehicle.

            “Do you have anything else I should know aboot before I search y’ca?”

            Dave and I looked at each other and were thinking the same thing. “Well, I mean, we are on a camping trip…yeah I got an axe back there and propane. I mean it’s all for camping but I can’t think of anything back there that could be illegal.  But then again, we didn’t know mace was illegal. We burned the wood back in Vermont, so we’re not carrying bugs.”

            So he proceeded to search our car. We watched the officer, kind of felt sorry for him.  Having to place all that gear back into the trunk exactly the way it came. It was a hard task for us to achieve even for us and we had unloaded and reloaded multiple times within the trip. So long story short, I guess it’s ok to carry an axe inside Canada, but mace: forget it! 

            Managing the map through Toronto should have been a lot easier than it was. But when you have a city with 3 major highways named Queen’s Way, Queen’s Quay, and Queen’s Expressway, it can get a little confusing. We got turned around twice trying to find our way to a friend’s place that we were crashing at for the night. And to make matters worse, it was the middle of rush hour!  So by the time we arrived at her home, we were ready to unwind from the craziness. She offered us a local Canadian beer and as others began to arrive, the spread on the table began to grow.  It was a long night with great conversation. We met several new people and caught up with old friends.

            The next morning, we walked to a nearby coffee shop and got an amazing cup of coffee before heading out. She helped us navigate our way around the Way, Quay, and Expressway and toward the Canadian border on the Michigan line. Our next stop was Detroit to see a concert that evening and we still had a long drive ahead of us.

      We waited two hours to cross the border. The bridge toward Detroit was backed up for miles. We were still an hour outside Detroit and still needed to check into the hotel beforehand and get showers. When our car pulled up to the border, I guess we looked suspicious because the officer had it out for us. It’s like he knew we were in a rush. He asked why our suitcase was covered up with a towel. We were drying it and I explained that we were camping. He asked why my Georgia car was all the way up here in Canada. Again, I told him we were on a long camping trip. I guess society doesn’t do this kind of thing anymore, you know: travel. So again, we were pulled over and searched. We stood in line for over an hour waiting for our car to be searched just for the State side to find out we were indeed, genuinely camping.  Meanwhile, we were not the only ones angry. A family ahead of us was missing a funeral, others were just impatiently griping about not being at work on time. So missing the concert was not that detrimental in comparison. We knew we were not going to make the opening. And we still needed a shower pretty desperately. So after they searched our car, found nothing, and let us go; we bolted to Detroit.

As Dave drove, I scrambled to the back seat and grabbed the only clothes we needed to dart up to the room and take quick showers.   Somehow, we had pulled it off! Listening to the knee slapping, foot stomping Avett Brothers, we noticed a carved plaque above the stage. It appropriately read “Grace Me Guide”.

      After the concert, we drove back to the hotel through the abandonment of what used to be Motor City. Commercial buildings, gas stations, and homes were for sale or foreclosed on every corner. Even on a weekend night, the highways of Detroit were empty. There was obvious evidence that the city had been hit hard. During the concert, the Avett Brothers played a particular song that seemed to command the audience more than the others. So here is an encore for Detroit.

There’s a darkness upon you that’s flooded in light
And in the fine print they tell you what’s wrong and what’s right
And it flies by day and it flies by night
And I’m frightened by those that don’t see it

There was a dream and one day I could see it
Like a bird in a cage I broke in and demanded that somebody free it
And there was a kid with a head full of doubt
So I’ll scream til I die and the last of those bad thoughts are finally out

There was a dream and one day I could see it
Like a bird in a cage I broke in and demanded that somebody free it
And there was a kid with a head full of doubt
So I’ll scream til I die and the last of those bad thoughts are finally out

There’s a darkness upon me that’s flooded in light
In the fine print they tell me what’s wrong and what’s right
There’s a darkness upon me that’s flooded in light
And I’m frightened by those that don’t see it