Wheels and Memories on the Road
I didn’t fully realize it at the time, but I lost part of my freedom last November when I crashed my 1988 Baby Blazer on a slick mountain road.
I've always enjoyed driving and the independence it gives me. My mother, mother in law and one of my sisters in law have never drove, relying instead on their husbands. That's something that would have driven me (!) insane.
Thankfully, I wasn’t hurt in the crash and the motor was not damaged, but the extensive damage to the exterior left me without wheels.
I didn’t know at the time I would be without my own wheels — something I had not experienced since I was 16 – for 9 full months.
There's Always the Fall
“Sorry we didn’t get down to see you this summer,” our good friend, Mike told me on a recent phone conversation. Mike was my “Godbrother” growing up and our mothers were best friends. They usually make a couple of trips down, but they’ve been busy this year purchasing and remodeling their lake home, which they will use in retirement.
“It’s ok, the only thing we could have done was sit inside anyway,” I told him, “Maybe you can get down here this fall.”
And so this summer goes, I think after this prolonged heat – it reached 114 degrees in our area yesterday – we’re all ready for fall.
The Glass is?
Upon first glance, it may not appear as such in the picture, but this is actually a glass half full story.
Take one wet mountain road, darkness and a slick curve and you have the recipe for potential disaster.
I’m not happy about my 22-year-old Baby Blazer, which was in near mint condition before I left home Tuesday evening.
I’m thankful this is the worst of it. I wasn’t going fast when I hit the other truck and he was also not injured. (Our friends tell Dale and I we drive like old people and one friend even refuses to let me drive because I go “too slow”).
It wasn’t until we got home Tuesday night that Dale said, “Well, it could have been worse. That truck may not have been there at all.”
Shaking and Then Shaking it Off
Some people may think that being out here at Our Little House in the woods saves me from having to deal with people in the outside world, but the truth is that I have a lot of interaction with people as a freelance writer.
I’m constantly calling people on the phone, if not meeting with them in person. I love learning and consider someone I’m interviewing a subject matter expert on whatever topic I may be writing about on any given day. I would even characterize most of my interviews as fun.
However, I am somewhat secluded from the outside world and I wrote last month about how I believe that quiet and peace has hopefully, made me a better person and a better friend.
I’ve also found that peace and seclusion works both ways and has made me less tolerant of the 1 percent of fools I have to call who aren’t very pleasant. Friday started off with one such phone call. An attorney returned my call, so I was not expecting his call at that time and was working on another piece when he decided to grace my day with his presence.
