The view from behind different steering wheels . . .

“In all affairs it's a healthy thing now and then to hang a question mark on the things you have long taken for granted.” 
― Bertrand Russell


This is me driving a friend's Jaguar . . .

(Yep, my friend Tom just walked over to the cabin where I was recently staying and begged for me to trade my hot minivan for his okay 2001 Jag. *)

* Statements preceding this mark may not be the total truth.  

This is me earlier the same day, in a rain storm, enduring the elements, driving rugged terrain, searching for my son to save him from the wicked forces of nature.

The photos make me think.  They urge me to consider ways the same places look different when we look at them with opening eyes.  I remember about how much various perspectives can change the same place, similar situations, realities we are faced with again and again.

It's like that for you, too, I expect.  Sometimes we see things from under a plastic bag, bracing ourselves from a storm and sometimes we have the open, free perspective of a cool drive in a classic car.  

The terrain changes when our view does.  

Often I need to be reminded of that.  Sometimes I need a nudge that reminds me there are lots of different ways to look at everything . . . what a friend believes, how a child reacts, a problem that seems insurmountable.  

How about you?

“What we see depends mainly on what we look for.”
― John Lubbock

List 20 . . . Ten Bumper Stickers I love

You know by now that I am a fan of good stuff, like t-shirts, fun pins and bumper stickers.  I love it when I see something that throws me into a laughing fit or stops me in my tracks and gets me thinking.  I dig creative, clever people!

The bumper sticker on an old truck in a parking lot earlier this week helped me decide on this week's list.  It was a good one . . .



You know these lists aren't complete - I must always reserve the right to add to at any time, and I adore hearing your additions to the lists!

1. Normal People Worry Me!
2. God Hates Hate
3. Please don't take your organs to heaven - Lord knows, we need them here!
4. Don't believe everything you think!
5. I'm not really interested in your stick figure family!
6. I try not to laugh at my own jokes, but we all know I'm hilarious!
7. Less Judgement - More Curiosity.
8. An Artist says a Hard Thing in a Simple Way.
9. What if the Hokey Pokey is really what it's all about?
10. The Best Things in Life Aren't Things.

All right, friends - I'm ready to hear yours!

Feeling a tad bit better . . .

A few truths I must share  . . .

1. From time to time my trusty minivan (sexy bastion of coolness that it is) has been known to be a bit messy.
2. Often I find rare relics of petrified food that I remember we had long, long ago.  
3. Some of my children's friends jumped into the way back seat a couple of days back and shrieked at the leftover corner of an Egg McMuffin.  (They simply tossed it out, affording neighborhood birds a dandy, cheese-filled treat.)
4. Once we were driving down the road, ran into my oldest daughter's best friend and invited her to come along with us to dinner.  She was barefoot, so she couldn't go.  'Problem?' you ask.  No problem - we found a pair of her shoes in the backseat!  
5. Many times I can find just the art supplies a friend in need needs, just by opening up the back hatch.

And one more thing:  I believe one should not use the plight of others to feel better; that it is wrong to put others down in an effort to build one's self up.

However, I will now do just that. 

I offer my apologies in advance.

The photograph below makes me feel better.  It does.

Recently I exited the local QT, and this is what I saw.  I stood still, mouth agape.  I stared in amazement.  

I stood taller.  I felt better.  I circled the car.  I looked into all of the windows.  And I waited to see who returned to the car.  I even felt like such a maven of car cleanliness that I stood to take a photo.  I couldn't pass it up.  I just couldn't.  

I never saw the person who owned the car, but I did notice that there wasn't much room for a driver.  There was, however, just about anything else any human could ever want - perhaps in an entire lifetime.  

In an effort to protect the as yet unknown identity of the car owner, I have cropped the photo close.  That's the least I could do.  

The he or she who drives this car gave me a great gift.  

Since this sighting, I have sat up straighter in the driver's seat, I have (mostly) ridded the car of some debris (every few days) and I am confident that as of this writing, there are no rock hard french fries in the floorboard of our van.  

Life is good, though I do worry a bit that we won't have what we need in a pinch.