Driving home from work, mid-day. Leonard Cohen songs doing their ethereal thing on the stereo. OR, my wonderful, new Wilco CD (a gorgeous surprise!) – its erratic cadence working its way through my limbs. My commute home is a time of peace, solitude (albeit music soaring). This is my ritual: Driving through Stanley Park’s causeway – I inhale the forest air. Deep breaths – drinking in the earth. I approach the bridge. Mountains clear and green before me. Slash of blue sky. The perfect screensaver for life. Tendrils of steel suspending the bridge above the sea. I cross. Roll down all four windows. Wind chafes my face. Hair whips my cheeks. I crank the music up. Way up – filling the space with lyric and harmony.

Water. Sky. Air. Forest. Mountains. Music. Me.

Sometimes you just need a break from comedy.