Is it possible to enjoy giving up control? I ponder this question as we begin the second drive of our great adventure, from Kansas City to Denver. I am not driving, and giving the wheel to anyone else is extremely unpleasant for me. For years, a number of experiences have convinced me that great things…
Month: May 2016
On the Road
A couple of years ago, Mary Laura Philpott wrote a series for the New York Times’ Motherlode column about her family’s move from Atlanta to Nashville. Recently, I ran across her essay “And Then The Dog Died,” again. It’s about all the stuff that got in the way of maintaining routine in the midst of…
Saying Goodbye
Partly because of the full lives we lead, and partly because we’re slightly scattered and kind of like to procrastinate, we have always been last minute packers. A week before a trip, we will consider the glories of getting out the door at 7:30 in the morning, kids fed, van packed and ready to go;…
Sabbatical
John Muir, the author, scientist and renowned conservationist, was an absolute fanatic about nature. He climbed trees in gale-force winds to see what it might feel like to be the branches; he stood at the precipice of waterfalls to sense what the water might be feeling before its plunge. He thought nothing of walking fifty…
Who’s Bessie?
Bessie is our car. Since we’ll be driving her over eight thousand miles this summer, we had to name her. This is a job we left to the kids, and their brainstorming session was pretty hilarious. We suggested that they consider names from good books they’ve read, or that they had some other connection with, but they…
Bessie Breaks Away 