Long family road trips. The only thing to do was to stare out the car window and zone out, or exercise your imagination. In my case, it was to gaze at the passing landscape and imagine stampeding horses, tidal waves, and avalanches, to which I would compose soundtracks in my head. We lived in Las Vegas and drove to Los Angeles a lot. The long stretches of open space between the stops gave me a chance to work out adventurous extended interludes, sometimes transition material. Night driving inspired thoughts of outer space as the headlights of oncoming cars approached like intergalactic invaders and meteors. The barren desert was actually a beautiful canvas on which to compose in one’s mind.