The boy has not yet gotten his driver’s license.
Last weekend, a local boy died in a car accident. Reports say alcohol was involved.
I said to my son, paraphrasing lines I loved from Light on Snow: There is a rule you must never break; never get behind a wheel if you’ve been drinking and never get in a car driven by someone who’s been drinking.
He said, “I know, Mom.”
Fine, I said. Just call me, just promise you’ll call me.
“What if I’m in another state? What if I’m 30?”
I can call you a cab from anywhere and yes, even if you’re 30.
I went from 8:30am until 2:30pm without speaking to another human being. I don’t even think I talked to the dog. I left a couple of voicemails, but that doesn’t really count, does it? If it weren’t for the early morning oil change at Jiffy Lube, and escorting my daughter down the street and back again I would have had zero human interaction until 3pm when my c0-worker called. I was overly enthusiastic to hear from her. I probably freaked her out.
Working at home is great, really. Sometimes though, slipping behind the wheel of the car I realize I haven’t driven in three days. Three days! If I haven’t driven, then more than likely, except to walk the dog, I haven’t left the house. When I worked from home, the only times I can recall not having left the house for three consectutive days were post-childbirth and during epic snowfalls. Do I like this?
Enough about me. Randomly googling, I found a friend’s short story. Bob is also one of my former writing teachers (one of my favorites, in fact.)
Tomorrow we will leave this town for the day and go wild at King’s Dominion. I’m not a HUGE theme park fan (depending, of course on the caliber) but we wanted to do something nice with the kids and get outta dodge. This is a good opportunity for me to see some faces that aren’t related to me.
For those of you who like to read (I read sometimes far too much), you might enjoy Aaron Belz’s site. I was thinking of him since I just enjoyed an article he has in this month’s St. Louis Magazine — I’d link to the article but it’s not online just yet.
We’re experiencing an absolute downpour at the moment. It’s glorious and I’m glad I’m inside.
The boy misses, to hear him talk, St. Louis food most of all. We’re planning our family trip to St. Louis this summer and all he wants is to eat at Jack ‘n the Box and stock up on provel.
“I am not transporting cheese across the country in a cooler,” I said.
“Why not?”
“Ugh.” The idea of that gooey white gunk in a hot August car makes my stomach turn.
I told him he can cheese out while he’s in Missouri, put provel on everything; eat Jack ‘n the Box daily; I don’t care. He’s actually lost about 8 lbs. in the last month (no explanation) so a little cheese isn’t going to hurt him. Betcha he burns out and never wants to see the stuff again.
I’m not foolish enough to think that this will be of any interest to anyone but family and my very closest friends, but . . . hear the boy’s high school wind ensemble spring concert (just a few snippets) here. You won’t be sorry.
The girl awakes one morning, a superhero in gaucho pants, packing her bag to visit, again, the third grade. She knows not her power.
Today she will think new thoughts, learn new ideas. She will, I hope, laugh and share her beautiful smile with a few fortunate friends.
On the tire swing after school, I imagine a day when she’ll swing out, a young girl, and back, a grown woman. Is today that day?
We grow older, still, standing on the bank, watching our superhero fly.
