My wife and I recently returned from a "working vacation." In this post, I share just a few random thoughts sparked by events along the way (perhaps "seeds" for some future writing projects or just some mental ramblings).
If one does the speed limit on the interstates, he'll get run over. Everyone was in a hurry, flying past us on both sides. One fellow was so impatient that, although I was speeding along at least five miles an hour over the speed limit and the passing lane was filled by another vehicle, he shot past on the shoulder. I hope he got to wherever he was going alive and on time.
A journey that once took travelers several days, maybe even weeks, of travel by horseback, wagon, or even afoot, can now be made in mere hours. How fortunate (or cursed?) we are to have the interstate highway system. Ike was prescient concerning future Americans' need for speed.
The high price of fuel apparently has had little effect on Americans' need to travel. The highways and streets we traveled were all crowded bumper to bumper. This in spite of near-$5-a-gallon gas prices everywhere. Quite a shock for a guy who, as a teenager, was given the keys to the family car on Saturday night, given a $5 bill, and told to fill the tank--and bring back the change. Today, that $5 bill would buy only a gallon. The 25 cents a gallon of my teen years wouldn't buy the fumes today.
My wife has good genes. Following a speaking engagement I had in Gainesville, we arrived at the home of my father-in-law the Wednesday before Father's Day. He didn't know we were coming; my sister-in-law, who lives with and cares for him and his sister, somehow had managed to keep the secret. He was napping when we arrived. When he arose and saw us, he deadpanned, "What are you doing here?" He's 95; his sister is 96. The fire department surprised him with a visit on his 95th birthday. (Dad is second from the right in the photo.) Both he and his sister get around reasonably well and are in good health. He goes to the beach just about every week. My wife surely inherited their genes for longevity.
But all good things, such as vacations in Florida, must end eventually. We returned home to discover that our clothes dryer had died. Never a dull moment. But it had lasted for 17 years, so we shouldn't complain. Now, however, we must spend time shopping for a replacement when we need to be doing other things, such as mowing the lawn, staining the deck, preparing teacher in-service workshops for the resumption of school in the fall, and engaging in numerous writing projects.
Speaking of writing projects, Tuesday, June 28, is TouchPoint Press's scheduled release date for Evangelism and Expulsion: Missionary Work Among the Cherokees Until Removal. Priced at $16.99 (paper) and $5.99 (E-book), it will be available on Amazon. Please consider getting a copy for yourself. And maybe even another copy for a friend. You'll be helping a starving writer pay for that expensive gasoline and that dryer!
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