Today, I did something out of the ordinary for me. I did not drive. In fact, I did not get in a car. By the way, my son almost made it, too. But he is nine and was extremely tired and did accept a ride of two miles home from the playground with a neighbor. I can't say I blame him. In some ways, filling the car was a responsible thing to do.
Such a day is not unique. Although for the life of me, I can't think of a day when I haven't at least been in a car. Nonetheless, I am sure there have been other days like this, but it is not the norm.
So, what did we do? What did we learn? Well, we relaxed in the morning. We read, watched TV, ate, watched the animals outside, generally had a good low key time. Then, early in the afternoon, we decided to take a bike ride with no general place in mind. We stopped at a neighbor's house and played with their kids for awhile, then rode with some other neighbors to a local park where there was a festival.
The festival was wonderful! We saw snapping turtles (they are BIG), tadpoles (they are small) and frogs and snakes and other stuff. We talked to a woman who walked the Appalachian Trail from Georgia through Tennessee, Kentucky, North Caroline and Virginia. She and her husband took off three months to do this together. I asked her what kind of job she had that she could do that and she explained that they both were employed and had to save up vacation and negotiate the time with their employers but - and here is the important part - if there is something you really want to do, you will find a way to do it.
Wow. There's a lesson.
We biked to a local pizza place where we met up with the neighbors and had dinner. We learned that all that riding can make you tired, hungry and thirsty. Ok, so fuel is fuel. But in general I think food is better fuel than oil.
However, lesson learned. You simply cannot live without fuel of some sort.
We then went across the street to my son's school where we had a wonderful time playing at his playground. I learned that bikesketball (a sort of basketball played on bikes) is both exhilarating and a little dangerous. I also realized there really was nothing else at that moment that I would rather have been doing. To say it was nice is an understatement. Simply playing outside on a beautiful day was almost the only thing one really could do of true value. As someone who is rarely "content", this was superbe.
I also learned the limitations. I could not get ice cream home on my bike. It simply would melt. I could not ride to get a large shopping order at all. It would be simple enough to get one or two things, but a week's worth of groceries would not be easy. That fuel thing again, but in a different way.
I could not have added a quick trip to the library. It is too far away. I could not haul topsoil in to fill up the tracks in my yard from the tractor that removed the tree this winter. Of course, if I had driven to do any of those things far from home, I would have missed the opportunities close at hand in the local park and the local playground.
So I guess there is still room for some other kinds of fuel in my life. It would be nice to say I learned I could do without a car, without driving, etc. But that is not yet true. But learning the simple happiness of being without one for awhile can be freeing.
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