Creative Ideas Take Flight In The Car For A Great Vacation!!

Memorial Day weekend is the signal!  School is over, or soon will be.  Summer is here and families are planning vacations.  With air travel costly, complicated and stressful and gas prices dropping a bit each day, many families will travel by car and look for interesting ways to entertain everybody during the trip.  When we travel I read the road atlas and the signs and wonder about names of the towns along the way (when I’m not enjoying my Kindle, which is so easy on the eyes when riding in a car). 

 

Last weekend we traveled to our daughter’s home for the confirmation of our oldest grandson.  We travel frequently on those east-west highways in south-central Texas, but this past Sunday I thought more seriously about the intriguing names of the towns.  Where in the world did some of these names come from?  

Some are rather simple with the name of a significant person and “ville” tacked on at the end.  Smithville, Rutersville, Deanville, Somerville all pay tribute to some hard-working or wealthy settler.  And who was Mr. Bleibler, who challenged the postal system with his hometown of Bleiblerville? 

Tributes to geography are everywhere along the highway with Long Point, Greenvine, Round Top, and Quarry.  Did these names offer directions like “turn left at the fence with the Greenvine climbing on it,” or go right at the Quarry and then follow the road to the Red Rock or the High Hill.  I wonder if dogs are allowed to live in Cat Spring?  

Imaginations can go wild in the car as you contemplate the history of Jeddo, Rek Hill, or Hogg.  Do the residents work harder in Industry? And how about the person who may have moved from Katy in the Houston area and staked his claim at New Katy near Austin?  When you get to Dime Box and don’t find what you’re looking for just drive a short way to the west and check out Old Dime Box.  Now that will get the stories going, for sure. 

North Zulch can confuse every traveler.  Don't go looking for the real, original Zulch.  Save your fuel.   I’ve tracked the highways all the way to Brownsville.  When you get to North Zulch you’ve seen all that old man Zulch laid claim to. 

See how much fun traveling by car can be?  Interesting villages and landmarks are everywhere and paint a picture for us of places and people who built our country.  Make up stories, songs, poems.  You may not be taking an airplane to your vacation destination but great ideas can take flight in the car.  Have the road atlas handy and keep your eyes open for those signs pointing the way to new, interesting locations.  

By the way, Cut and Shoot near Conroe is on my list of “places to go this summer.” If you get there before I do, email me and let me know what you find.  Have a safe and creative summer!

Let's sort through the STUFF and get to the bottom of things!

Remember the wonderful routine George Carlin used to do about our “stuff?”  It was funny and scary at the same time and forced me to check out what had found its way to the bottom of my purse, tote bag, or kitchen drawer.   But, after the laughter, seldom did any of us seriously look for buried “stuff” in our lives.

Last week I complained I didn’t have enough sleeveless tops to get me through the summer.  I grumbled a bit and tried to remember what had happened to several all-purpose favorites.  And, I was not in the mood to shop and spend money just to solve my wardrobe problems.  

Over the weekend I noticed Fred was running out of summer shirts and knew it was time to drag out the dreaded ironing board and the seldom-used appliance called the iron, start a favorite DVD, and get to work.  I pulled my ironing basket out from under all the empty laundry baskets and was shocked.  I typically toss things in there that need the iron, but avoid follow up as long as I can.  What in the world is in this basket?  I thought.  I pulled Fred’s shirts out one by one and under them was a pile of clothes that had been strangers to our closets for over a year.  As I sorted through them I was pleased, but dismayed, to find my old favorites for summer that had me so troubled just days before.  I mumbled how thankful I was I hadn’t run to the mall and spent money on new clothes I didn’t need.  

You need to get to the bottom of this basket more often I lectured myself and laughed when it occurred to me that a lot of things in life are like that.  “Stuff” of life piles up and we only deal with the things at the top.  Occasionally it’s time to “get to the bottom of things.”

We treat wounds quickly with band aids without thorough cleansing and appropriate treatment and wonder why it leaves a scar.  Harsh words spoken to others and left without apology leave the same marks.  We battle with children about eating habits but never take time to hear their opinions of healthy food choices they would eat and enjoy without debate. Marriages “make do” with brief explanations and lame apologies for things done or undone, insufficient time to accomplish what’s expected, individual dreams shattered. Something negative or disagreeable is said during a meeting and decisions fly off the top of the pile, made in an urgency to move on.  Unresolved “stuff” gets moved to the bottom of the pile and never addressed again.  After people are elected to office, campaign promises are forgotten and dreams delayed.  Sadly, when those same people run for office again they are re-elected because no one challenges their neglected “stuff.”  On State and National levels bills are passed and laws enacted with “extra stuff” buried that surprises us because we don’t read to the bottom, between the lines, of the bills made available on the Internet and in local newspapers.   And what are all the wars about?  Why can’t anyone dig to the bottom of the issues and find the historical, contentious “stuff” causing conflicts, or is war on the top of the pile and easier to find?

The fast pace of life drives us to address only items at the top of our piles of responsibility.  Broken promises are buried beneath all of the obligations in our lives.  Unresolved anger is camouflaged by the happy face we show to the world.  Careful attention to detail is abandoned in the urgency to get things done and move on.  But to where?  Wait a minute!  

Isn’t it time to get to the bottom of things?  Don’t we all need to make time and check out what “stuff” is buried deep at the bottom of our baskets?  How about the overflowing Inbox of our lives?  You know the “stuff.”  It’s in our homes and marriages; friendships; careers; schools; neighborhoods; churches; local; State and National governments; global tensions and relationships; the economy; our health, and environment. 

It’s too late for Spring Cleaning 2011 around the house and the laundry basket is empty.  But it’s not too late to clean out the “stuff” at the bottom of our lives.  

What do you think?  Comments are encouraged!

Does Mr. Google Live At Your House?

Mr. Google has moved into our home.  He has taken up permanent residence and I’m so relieved he’s here.  “Go ask Mr. Google,” I tell Fred when he asks me some impossible question.  “Let’s ask Mr. Google,” I tell my grandchildren when they ask me what lions, tigers, or bears eat at the Zoo or the names of capital cities for eastern European countries, whose names I barely recognize.  “I need to ask Mr. Google,” I mumble to myself in the middle of a writing project and details escape me.  

When I was a child, family dinners stirred up spirited discussions among my parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles.  No attitude of “children should be seen and not heard” was tolerated around my childhood home.  Before attending kindergarten all the children learned how to chime in and defend their comments by dragging the dictionary, two or three volumes of the encyclopedia, and the Bible to the table.  

When I was a little girl I was blessed with two grandmothers with a thirst for knowledge.  Neither of them had taught school but, in my mind, they were “Master Teachers” deserving of awards for leading grandchildren on a journey through the world of words and new information.  My paternal grandmother made word and guessing games that surpassed anything Parker Brothers could have created.  Around my maternal grandmother no word was left undefined.  When I asked what a word meant or needed some unknown information, she challenged me to search for the definition or explanation in the dictionary or encyclopedia.  “Look that word up, Terri,” MeeMee always said.  Knowing what she would say, I was half way to the bookshelf and listening for her last minute reminder, “When you find the information you need be sure to read the information before it and after it so you’ll learn three new things and not just one.” 

Mr. Google leads me in the same direction.  I type in my search word or series of words and pages and pages demand my immediate attention.  I allow my curious mind to wander through the maze of a dozen or more definitions or pages of information before I harness my focus back to the original intent of my search.  Mr. Google always gives me more than I expect.  I still make MeeMee proud and collect my new information and look before and after to add even more to my knowledge. 

Does Mr. Google live at your house?  “Let’s ask Mr. Google” can prevent and settle arguments, help with homework, and open whole new worlds for young children.  Mr. Google, what took you so long?  My grandmothers would have loved you! 

CAUGHT BY THE TRAIN

I like trains.  I always have.  Trains have played significant roles in my life over the years.  When I was a little girl my father traveled a lot by train.  My nose still remembers the unforgettable smell of the steam engine at the train station when we sent him off on a trip or welcomed him home.  He had a love of trains, too, and took me on Sunday afternoon excursions to watch how the steam engine got filled with water.  We traveled with him occasionally and some trips were long enough to spend the night in a “compartment” with a bed.

When Fred and I were first married our town house north of Detroit backed up to a track.  We got so used to the train coming by we sometimes didn’t notice it at all—except when it was off schedule and we would wonder why.  Those were still the times when trains had a caboose and a person who waved at you as the train whipped by.

Once, when Fred was transferred by his employer to a new city, we went to the new location to look for a home and the airline pilots went on strike.  When it was time to return to pack up our belongings, we had to take a fairly long, overnight train trip and Fred was very unhappy.  I, on the other hand, was in “train heaven.”  The next morning while my husband was grumpy and out of sorts from little sleep, I talked about how the soft rocking of the train kept me in a deep, restful sleep.  Needless to say, we never traveled by train again.  

I took our three children on a way-too-brief train trip back in the early 70s from our home in south-central Michigan to Chicago to meet Fred, who had driven ahead to attend a conference.  There was no need to sleep on the trip, but we did have fun with the luxurious treat of eating in the “dining car.”  I regret the three of them never had an opportunity to go on a much longer, sleepover on a train before those trips became almost obsolete.  But, like their father, they like the fast track of transportation today and would choose a bag of peanuts on an airplane over the unique experience of eating on a train.  

  

I live in a central Texas Hill Country town and we have trains.  Boy, do we have trains.  Actually, there are only two major tracks that come through town with a couple of spurs that branch off in other directions.  But those two tracks cross every major street in every direction, except for the street with the new overpass so emergency vehicles and pregnant women can get to the hospital faster.  Being stopped by a train is a way of life here.  And, that’s just fine with me.  I line up with everyone else and think about what the train teaches us. 

Is it empty?  Why?  What should it be carrying?  An empty train is costing someone a lot of money and that’s not good for the economy.  Is it a full train?  A full train is the sign of a healthy business climate.  Trains moving goods around the country should be a sigh of relief to a country suffering from some serious financial woes.  Thank you, I am more than willing to sit and give a slow, full train the right of way – even though there is no guy in a caboose to wave at me.  

No need to hurry.  I sit and read the artwork on the box cars and wonder if my friend, who is an authority on gang behavior, could translate the graffiti for me.  I see the numbers on the side and am reminded about my father’s college roommate, who could add them up in his head as the train passed and give his friends the total when the train was gone.  He was tested on this over and over and was always right, and later became a top executive at a major automotive company.  Go figure! 

When the trains are long and slow I love the slow pace introduced into everyone’s life.  I am sure it frustrates some residents, but “What’s the hurry?”  I am always more in tune with the relaxed tempo of life and enjoy watching how people spend their time as the train lumbers by.  Frequently, doors will open and friends will spend time leaning casually on their cars and catching up with each other across the tops of other vehicles.  Morning papers are read or re-read, phone calls and texts received and returned, and make up refreshed.  I watch some drivers stretch their arms toward the roofs of their cars and move their heads from side to side.  Could this be a demonstration of “train stop aerobics?”  I grab my ever-present Kindle from my bag and settle in to enjoy some rare, middle-of-the-day reading time.  Like I said, “What’s the hurry?”

Too much of life is hurry, hurry, hurry.  No matter what happens to slow you down during your day, you’ll still get to your destination.  Perhaps you’re a smidge later than anticipated.  But in our town you can always say “caught by a train” as you fly in the door and everyone just smiles and understands. 

 

So when the fast pace of your life is slowed down a bit, use the time to people watch, make a phone call, freshen your nail polish, spend a few extra moments talking with a friend, enjoy your Kindle.   Everything will still get done and when you get to an appointment a little late tell everyone, “caught by a train.”  It will make no sense at all unless you live in my town.  But it will be a lot of fun watching everyone’s face when you explain why you’re late.

Terri Clamons, author
Corporate Prince, ebook at synergEbooks, amazon, and The Kindle Store

The Toy Room, ebook and paperback at wingsepress and amazon, ebook at The Kindle Store

Visit my website at http://www.terriclamons.com