Life Along the Way----That Thing You Do

_{Do you have a ‘thing’ that you do—something so simplistic, almost not worth mentioning, but it gives you great pleasure?  It may be something that may even be a ‘secret’, not because it is some nefarious deed, but it wouldn’t even hold others interest?  So trying to hold your attention until the end may be a challenge, but hang with me.} 

<sub>Mine involves a trip. I suppose it goes back to our gypsy roots as a military family, I have always enjoyed ‘a ride’. Firing up my trusty pickup, I make an early Sunday morning run to Wal Mart or Home Depot. (Mouses are clicking off this blog now.)

Sometimes I have my constant slips of paper, scratched with writing that was once considered cursive; now it is simply a form of shorthand that is about as difficult to decode as the German Enigma machine. Sometimes I just go, not knowing which store I am going to until I get there. I live on the edge.</sub>

_{Today I had a purpose. We are going to make some chicken stir fry later in the week and Annie forgot the frozen Bird’s Eye veggies and the low sodium Kikkoman.  I added a CD, the Eagles Greatest Hits. And of course I cannot forget the Diet Mt. Dew, the drink of choice for my journey.} 

_{From there, I take the long way home. It is a beautiful little drive through a community called Pike Road, a truly idyllic southern hamlet fenced neatly providing security to cows, horses, goats, mules and donkeys.} 

_{The speed limit is around 50. I rarely drive the speed limit, which makes all the city folk mad-- the ones who have moved to the McMansion subdivisions that are springing up in Pike Road---you know, the folks who want to ‘slow down and escape the fast life of the city.’  There is a certain irony as I open my new CD and play ‘Life in the Fast Lane' as I drive 45. To many of you, this is not a surprise. Additionally, I lower all 4 windows in my quad cab and turn the A/C on full blast, remembering  the days of my youth with plenty of air and noise flowing through a vehicle. It also clears out the dog hair, as Millie and Lucy have probably been in my truck at least once or twice in the last week.}

  _{I pass by my Anne Alan’s riding stable and wave, knowing she is probably home enjoying a cup of coffee, but I wave anyway. A right turn puts me on the final leg of the journey. Sipping on my Diet Dew, I breeze by Debbie and Ed’s home, hoping to see them out front with one of the many rescue dogs making a temporary home with them.  I wave again if they are not out. I pass the ball park where I have spent many Saturdays with the Miracle League and think about the good times I have enjoyed for a number of years now.} 

_{The final stretch on my little junket is a pretty view this time of year, as one of the subdivisions has planted white crepe myrtles as a privacy hedge. Turning on our street, the windows go up, the music goes down, and the girls wait at the back door like I have been to London. I will settle for a quiet trek through Pike Road.  I have learned long ago to live for the simple pleasures. I have fewer days left on this earth than I have lived. That is not fatalistic, it is just a fact. And I am going to enjoy them all!}