Transthought

Long Car Rides

Long car trips are sometimes exciting and sometimes boring. We used to drive from New York City to Gary, Indiana, without stopping. We had either two, three or four children with us and off we went, never thinking about the actual way we would feel when we arrived. And we arrived none the worse for the wear. Now we are lucky if the two of us can drive two hundred miles without getting weary of the whole thing.

Age has a way of changing lifestyle. It is not that our desires or attitudes even have changed so much. I would love to be able to drive like that again. But we just can't do it and we have little motivation to do so. Our kids just drove in from Vermont with only two children. They tried to do it in one clip, but found they had to overnight in Ashtabula. Have kids changed, or cars, or highways, or what? They complained about too many trucks to contend with.

So long car trips are out for us and maybe for them, too! I don't how they will do on the way back. They are here for a family wedding. So we have children sleeping on a sleep-sofa in the living room and they are doing fine. I don't know how the parents are doing. But somehow travelling takes it out of a person nowadays.

It is amazing how company in the house, even much beloved company, changes routine, procedures, etc. I believe we were company once like that and still are on occasion. I wonder how much our visits disrupted the routines of our parents and family members and friends. The agenda of the traveller is always more dominant than that of the host. And that makes a lot of difference!

I asked the children what the most impressive scenery they saw on their long ride was and they thought for a few moments and finally answered the canal here by our house in Indianapolis. Is there nothing between Vermont and here that impressed them? Oh, the innocence of children! I expected mountain views, rivers, even skylines of cities, or something, but no, it was the final block of their trip! I guess they love us most of all, and that is just fine with me.

Wayne's Words for July 28, 2006

posted by Wayne Olson @ 8:10 AM