The Petite Filet and Cutlet are home safe. Will take some time for the little guy to readjust to Earth time, but that’s expectable.
Thanks to all who left haikus regarding the post below. I’m humbled by your brilliant skills as surely they all beat my attempts by several miles.
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by friends in blogland
The Family Truckster
I gave our family car a much-needed wash, wax and vacuum this week. Easier to do this when the Petite Filet and Cutlet are out of town because it takes some time to do a good job – at least a couple of hours. Now that it’s eight years old, the truck is harder to make pretty.
For me, washing a car is like therapy. My mind wanders during, and then after I’ve got something sparkling to show for my effort. Thought about all sorts of stuff this time, but my mind turned to the truck itself.
I can remember where many of the major scratches, scrapes and dings came from. The truck, a 1995 Isuzu Rodeo (V-6, 4-wheel drive) wears them like merit badges. We USE our SUV. Sure, it’s made trips to the mall and the grocery store, but it’s also towed a few boats, been used for camping, spent lots of time doing serious off-road maneuvers, hauled large items and taken us on myriad adventures near and far.
Some notable trips during its thus-far 125,000 miles:
1. Having driven a handful of very different women on very different dates, obviously an important one was when the Petite Filet and I had our first “date.” Sadly, neither one of us remembers starting to date. Our growing friendship simply morphed into more. Anyhow, I’m sure we went SOMEPLACE in my truck and had SOME SORT of fun.
2. Our first road trip while we were dating was to Carlsbad, New Mexico. There’s some famous underground caves there (cleverly called Carlsbad Caverns). It was her, me and my chihuahua (and at least one bottle of wine). Tested our road manners and found we travel quite well together. Note: not one to brag, this was also the trip during which we had sex for 90 minutes straight. I have the trophy to prove it. Never topped that and not sure we want to.
3. Drove to a bed & breakfast on our wedding night, followed by a weeklong honeymoon trip to the beach. More than four years since, there is still some residual shoe-polish stuck on the edges of the windows after an expert decorating job.
4. Fender benders: the time I backed into a light pole and crunched the bumper and the time I collided with a Honda Accord that was trying to park in the same space I was. The pole won the first skirmish. The truck triumphed in the second.
5. Moves. Rented a U-Haul, trailered the truck (full of various things) and moved from the town of my first job to the second. Then to the third and so on.
6. Towed my grandfather’s boat from Virginia to Texas.
7. Hit the 100,000 mile mark on a subsequent solo trip back east. The odometer changed as I was leaving Virginia and entering North Carolina.
8. Did something we call “Naked Laundry” whereupon the wife and I stripped, put our clothes in the washer (which was in the garage) and then got too excited to make it back to the bedroom. The truck’s ample backseat beckoned. Oh yeah!
9. Went on a few camping trips, including one sure to be the last one for some time.
10. Drove the Petite Filet and the Cutlet home from the hospital after he was born.
Anyone who buys an SUV as a status symbol certainly has the right; I just think that’s silly. If you do, slow down! Drive friendly! You're freakin’ huge! Ours pales in comparison to all the Mercedes, Lincolns, Cadillacs, Lexuses out there. Status wasn’t my intention when I bought it. Never dreamed I’d still have it after falling in love, getting married, buying a house and having a child. Sure looks different (better?) with a baby seat in the back. Here’s to many more fun, safe family trips.
There’s a sticker on the back bumper that says “It’s All Good.” A bumpersticker philosophy, yes, but a worthy one. Besides, it’s covering up a spot where that Accord bonked me and swiped some paint. Now it’s all good.
