The Drive

Isabella's day trip/ more like afternoon trip was not something she looked forward to with glee. However, after her spin class that left her wet enough to look like she had just emerged from a lengthy swim, she was ready for it.

She set things up just right for the drive.  Accompanying her was a light sandwich and bag of chips which she devoured with reckless abandon.  Later when she felt a pain in her chest, she attributed it to an aching heart for her new boyfriend.

Isabella also planned the music she would listen to perfectly as she brought along her three  favorite pieces of classical music by Brahms, Dvorjak and Griegg.  Thus she was in classical music heaven and a state of melancholy as she thought of her father who introduced her to these pieces years ago.  Under the influence, Isabella  played smashing air piano or the role of conductor while listening to these favorites.

Isabella was pleased with herself for setting up the best possible environment  in her vehicle for her trip as it didn't occur to her that  a pleasant adventure was waiting for her and her wheels.

It was a magnificent crisp Fall day.  Leaves on the trees had not fully turned colors and the roadside grass was lush and emerald green.  In the abundant corn fields each stalk stood on its own.

Isabella drove past rustic barns and farm houses.  Horses grazed peacefully in their pastures.

There was no trace of modern commerce for miles and miles until the exit for gas which didn't work out well as Isabella kept pushing the wrong button.  She finally went inside to seek help and the situation was resolved without too much frustration.

The rest of the ride remained pristine until Columbus and its surrounding suburbs. Heretofore. The uppity bitch (aka her gps) had been uncharacteristically well behaved.  But true to form, the bitch could not resist messing with Isabella as she led her astray while directing her to a take a "soft right" turn on a tight loop exit ramp causing all the stuff on the passenger seat, which was a lot, to careen in her direction.

Back on track, or so she thought,  Isabella continued driving for what seemed like a long time for ub to silent,  She looked down to discover that the gps had become disconnected from its charger.  Oops, Isabella surmised the mishap occurred while she was taking that "soft right" turn on the exit ramp. Reconnected, and a after a half hour of "calculating route,"  the bitch finally had Isabella arriving at her destination as she announced "you have arrived" - which was funny only once when ub uttered it four years ago on their maiden voyage.

At her destination, Isabella apologized for her tardiness blaming it on her gps/fucking uppity bitch while of course keeping its nickname under raps.

 The purpose of Isabella's trip was to attend a work related workshop.  She behaved appropriately, brown nosing just enough to not appear obsequies.

The ride home was the pinnacle of her day.  Seamlessly with no uppity bitch upsets, Isabella made it out of Columbus without incident - a rare and good thing.  Basking in that relief and enjoying the contemporary music chosen for the ride home, Isabella was struck by the view.

The sky was extraordinarily beautiful on this late Fall afternoon.  Clouds were not billowing instead in broad bands and streaks they popped against a vibrant blue sky - it was the stuff that artists paint.

For most of the ride, the clouds sheltered the sun just enough for Isabella to look at the clouds and sky and another vision.  It was a section of a rainbow which was odd as it had not rained.  There was no arch just a cube of rainbow colors.  This vision of beauty lasted for quite a while.  Once gone, plenty of exceptional beauty was abundant with the same fields, lush grass and rustic farms Isabella passed earlier now looking dramatically different under the setting sun.

Isabella marveled at the almost evening sky with its jewel tone quality of moonstones, opals and mother of pearl.  She noticed a few other things on this return trip like the field with alpacas, goats and sheep and she was mesmerized by the clumps of almost bare trees.

Isabella wasn't bothered by the two large sign boards on the side of the road, one with the ten commandments, the other with hell fire and damnation rhetoric. She then witnessed a tremendous bonfire.  While having a near out of body experience, Isabella pondered - is this too perfect?  Will the other shoe drop? Although, the first shoe had not...

Kitty's Conquest

Mouse that was is no more

Rigored mouse body adheres to floor

Its body rising, a chore

Adventures in Teenage Driving Part Deux

So my boy is pressing me hard to drive my Smart Car (the car he previously loathed) - now he says it's fun to drive  - I say it's  a tool to pick up chicks - a notion he vehemently denies...But my thinking is the car is cute,  and cute begets cute - right?

However,  it's more of a bro thing -  at crew practice,  my son's coach and rowing mates love the tiny ride, and by association, my son.  It takes four of them to pick up the car with  maximum passengers - two.  They also, or maybe just my kid, think the puff of dust from the peel out is pretty cool too.

Now, you may wonder what I get while they have all that fun.  Well, the 2010 Toyota Corolla - a smooth ride , but in contrast to my diminutive baby,  it is a behemoth boat....At first, I am impressed with his radio thinking it must be Sirius as uber explicit rap/hip hop lyrics are completely  unfiltered, but much to my dismay I discover, no, it is a CD - a Big Sean (who in fact is quite small like my car) CD  - oh Tipper, Tipper, Tipper, Tipper, Tipper Gore - Help!

Mothers

Mother is subjective, often the subject is not the mother at all, but instead, the one acting the role of mother.  Confusing, I know, but true.  Mother is often grandmother, Aunt or sister – usually, however, grandmother is mother.  Grandmother and sometimes Great Grandmother do not take the role of mother lightly. Grandmothers become mothers almost as birthright. They too were raised by someone other their biological mother more than likely their grandmother –so it is expected.  It is expected for the child of a fifteen year old to be raised by someone else, someone older and more experienced in raising children.  It is a cycle that is continuous, grandmother (mother) will likely raise several children of her children – whoa, I know this is confusing but it is the cycle of life – Polly is now eighteen and she wants another baby, Polly is not married, Polly may not even have a special man in her life but Polly does have a soft spot for babies and Polly’s grandmother/mother is there to raise a wee one, yet again.  

Seventeenth Birthday

My offer of bringing a delicious pizza and scrumptious cake is rejected.  I insist upon dropping by anyway with his presents and a small cake.  I am met at the door by my ex-husband, not with a hello but with a "we are about to have dinner".  My son opens his gifts while his father doles out their steak dinner.  I leave the cake and the house after the brief present opening session.

One present, that did not arrive on his birthday, but instead a day later, is the portable phonograph he requested.  He opens it and I receive one of those frantic calls at work that I have become accustomed to - he has broken the phonograph player - detached wires and small parts are everywhere.  I explain as calmly as I can - which is not calm at all - that there is nothing I can do about it while at work and that I will look at it when I get home.

Well,  turns out that while removing the protective plastic casing  a little too hard, he managed to pull out the needle and several essential wires along with it - And, yes, he did, within minutes of receiving his new phonograph, break his new phonograph.  It's a few days later and at the moment, he doesn't much care...

Adventures in Teenage Driving

A bunch of near misses while driving to school with his temporary license.   Driving test  - missed the first maneuver - bam - over - the battle axe examiner stopped the test - and he flunked.  Temporary expires  the next day.  A few days later  he takes the written test required to renew temps - nope, I mean yep - flunked that too. 

 A few weeks and few wins later,  approximately give or take 24 hours after obtaining his drivers license,  his brand new car is totaled as he is jackknifed while taking a left turn.  Despite his looking before turning, and that he was hit by a female driving too fast while talking on her cell phone, he is initially deemed at fault for a right of way violation. 

 More importantly, he walked away without a scratch, his dad lawyered up, and after several court appearances, the case is dismissed.

However, during that waiting period between court dates and the final result, life continued to be interesting, and not without incident,  in the teenage driving department.  

I receive a frantic call while at work,  upon entering our driveway,  he grazed his second car,  a not new but barely used and looking like new, Toyota Corolla,  agains't a low lying stone wall and scratched the front right side and fender.  He did not see the wall.  I am fairly certain, that prior to that moment, he was not aware of the wall's existence.

 In a panic,  he declares the certainty of his license being suspended after another violation.  I chuckle a little bit, which needless to say, did not go over well.  I explained that what he violated was our property - both the car and the wall - nothing authorities care or need to know about.  

Dodging another bullet,  all that was needed was a buffer and compound.

On no, I am not done.  A few weeks later,  he urgently summons me to show me his car windows and says that he couldn't see anything while he was driving.  I told him, in no uncertain terms, that next time he can't see anything that he should not drive.  I also showed him where his defroster controls were for future reference...He said he kept wiping the windows trying to see - he said other drivers were flashing their lights at him - I asked him if perhaps his lights weren't on - he said no that they were on.  I asked him if he was perhaps swerving while tinkering with his windows - he said maybe so.

Another bullet dodged.