By Dan Roark

So I left at 5 p.m. for my show at 7 at Pilot Point Coffee House. On a usual day, it would take me 45 minutes to an hour to get there. Even on a Friday, it shouldn’t take a lot longer than that. But there was nothing usual about this Friday night.

Heading north on I35 from Farmers Branch, things went as expected, even exiting and turning on Swisher and heading for the Lewisville Lake Toll Bridge. About two thirds of the bridge when fine. Then we slowed way down. We never stopped completely, but we were moving irritatingly slow. Turns out the right lane ended just past the bridge.

Once we got through the lane closure and it turned into Eldorado Pkwy., things ran smoother. I turned onto Oak Grove Pkwy. and seemed to be making up some time. Then there was a half-mile back-up at 380 and again at the light for 424 leading to 377, which went smoothly.

I parked at the coffee house about 10 ’till 7. After two trips from the van, and sound check, I started the show at 7:05. Not bad for having incurred hellacious traffic.

Despite the inauspicious start, it turned out to be a great show. I even gained new fans. It was a community event and I was the entertainment. Apparently, I didn’t disappoint them.

So I’m heading home. I’m going through small towns on a Friday night so I’m paying attention to speed limit signs. In my mind, I’m back home having a beer. I’m cruising right along, going through the show in my head when, suddenly, it looks like I’m being followed by a flashing Christmas tree – minus the green lights.

I pulled over immediately, which has been my reaction for years – I am an old hippie after all. I asked him if I missed one. He said “what?” I said, “speed limit sign.” It seemed to confuse him for a minute. Then he explained that he stopped me because my license plate light was out. He took my driver’s license and way too much time checking me out, then came back with a written warning. Are you kidding me? I haven’t gotten a written warning in years! Not that I haven’t received warnings, just not written.

To be honest, I didn’t even know the van had license plate lights (I changed them the next day – turns out there are two). They obviously hadn’t been changed in years as dirty as they were and as hard as it was getting them out. I watched a YouTube video to keep from snapping them off by twisting them the wrong way.

But the kicker is that I’ve been driving thousands of miles a year for a number of years now in more than half a dozen states and that was the first time I’ve ever been stopped because the license plate lights were out. I’ve been stopped for a lot of stupid reasons – and a few good ones – but not for lack of license plate lights.

And now I have – within an hour from home. Go figure.

Keep writing the songs that are in your heart.

Peace be with you.