A-Carolling

A little while after the sunset silhouetted farms and mountains against the blazing western sky, the full moon rose directly ahead of us, like a stunning orange tunnel we would have to drive through. Soon enough, though, it took its place in the sky, brightening to white, and shining on the road as we pulled in for a quick pit stop at the halfway point between home and Buffalo. 

The three of us dispatched our business efficiently: emptying our bladders, filling the tank, refilling our cups with tea and water, and when I hit the ignition button, Christmas music filled the car as the sound system defaulted from podcast to satellite radio. The song, of course, was familiar, but the performance was not. The LED screen displayed the map of our route, and so I turned to Heidi. "Who do you think is singing this?"

She listened intently. 

"Is it Whitney Houston or maybe Mariah Carey?" I guessed.

"I think it's Mariah," she said. 

"It's a little too fussy for Whitney Houston," I agreed, and she hit the radio icon to check our guess. With that? A new game was born! The miles rolled by as we admired all the holiday lights along the way and guessed performer after performer on the songs we knew so well. Of course there were several gimmes, classic versions that we knew within an opening note or two, and there were also some unfamiliar songs by voices we recognized right away. 

"Did he just say 'Ima be under the mistletoe with you shawty'?" I asked Heidi as Justin Bieber sang through the speakers.

"I think he did," she nodded.

And a little while later, right after I correctly guessed that it was Jewel singing Winter Wonderland (even before the yodeling!), I just had to wonder, "How have we never thought of this before?"