After a long, hot afternoon at the park, my two daughters (a toddler and preschooler) and I head home. While navigating rush-hour traffic, I mentally “cook up” a plan for the dinner I’ll have to cook as soon as we get home. My girls crankily kick around, strapped in their car seats. When I reach a big and busy intersection, the yellow light changes to red. I slow to a stop and take a breath.
Faint beats pulsate beside my car. The air conditioning is on and the windows are closed tight; I crack them open to figure out what’s going on. Muffled sounds suddenly burst into clear notes of Madonna’s “Like a Prayer” and I am in heaven! I immediately start dancing and twisting in my seat, all while holding down the brake pedal to keep us from rolling into the intersection.
In the car next to me, a woman in the driver’s seat bops to the radio. We catch each other’s eye and freeze at being “caught.” Then we both shrug, smile, and resume dancing with abandon. She turns up her radio and rolls down her window to share the music; I roll my windows all the way down to receive it.
Behind her sits a young girl, right next to my daughters. They all start to giggle at their boogying mamas and delightfully kick along in their car seats.
The red light in this intersection is long, but not long enough for us to finish vogueing. When the light changes, we wave to each other and drive off in different directions, still bouncing in our seats.