April 2, 2013
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I’m More of a “One Event a Day” Kind of Girl
It seemed like such a good idea at the time. Since we had no transportation on Thursday, we couldn’t go to the zoo with Mary as planned, so we had the bright idea of going to the zoo today on the way to the airport. That actually wasn’t such a terrible idea in itself. It’s just that it required us to leave the house by 9:00 if possible, go to the zoo, go from there to the airport in Dallas, and get back in time for our Literary Society dinner, which I pushed back to 6:30 “just in case.”
We left a little later than we wanted to, but that was okay. We knew we could speed through the zoo if we had to! It was just me, Mary, Lucy and Jasper. My first misgivings came on the way to the zoo. The brakes on the van were, shall we say, rather ineffective. There were a couple of very scary moments when I thought I would not be able to stop our behemoth before it hit another car.
We had a great time at the zoo though, despite the quick pace and the hordes of schoolchildren we had to put up with. Fragrant wisteria was everywhere except where it was really needed, which was anywhere near the odiferous rhino enclosures.
And now it’s time for “embarrassing admissions with Linda,” the part of the blog where Linda comes out and makes an embarrassing admission.
While Mary and I were trying to get some photos of the warthog and a splendid kudu, we found ourselves leaning over a herd of red-shirted first graders who were pressed up against the window looking out over the African wildlife area. One little boy expressed his admiration of the movie The Lion King, only to be ridiculed by a classmate, who had a low opinion of that movie, but offered to show his naïve friend a “real grown-up show” called The Walking Dead. Here’s the embarrassing admission: I had never heard of The Walking Dead and had no idea what it was, but I was quite certain that it wasn’t suitable material for grade schoolers. Since returning home I did just enough research to discover that I was right. What kind of parent lets their kid watch a show like that? I’m pretty sure that I am not yet grown up enough to watch that.
The zoo was really spectacular today. In addition to the wisteria, there were azaleas by the hundreds, sweet williams, begonias, dogwoods, snapdragons, violets, redbuds, and pansies. And yes, there were some animals too!
We made a quick stop for lunch after leaving the zoo and headed straight for Dallas. The sun disappeared and clouds covered the sky. By the time we reached the outskirts of Dallas, a steady light rain was falling and we were in heavy traffic. I tried to control my anxiety, but those driving conditions were hardly ideal for a very heavy vehicle with iffy brakes. I began to get a headache, especially when the traffic slowed us down to the point that I wondered if we would get Mary to the airport in time. It didn’t help that I was fighting extreme sleepiness and fatigue also, despite plenty of tea and a Dr. Pepper with my lunch.
I was more than a little relieved to finally drive into the airport! This was followed immediately by the sadness of saying goodbye to Mary yet again. It gets harder, not easier, as time goes by. She is off to spend a month in Nashville so she can have some time with her soon-to-be-husband.
After leaving the airport, I popped into a fancy grocery store to see if they had something I’m going to need for Mary’s wedding cake. They didn’t. But they did have an amazing deli, a bar, an internet café, and a massage booth. I am not even kidding.
Traffic leaving Dallas was even more stressful than it had been on the way in, and as we reached the outskirts of the city it started raining harder. And harder. This was only partially offset by the sight of numerous patches of blooming bluebonnets. By the halfway mark I was driving down an apparent riverbed and under what appeared to be a waterfall. I have rarely driven in such heavy rainfall, let alone with sketchy brakes. I could not make out the headlights of the car ahead of me even fifty feet away. My pace slowed to a crawl while other idiots drivers splashed past me at twice my speed, having no idea what was ahead of them because there was no visibility. It seemed like twilight rather than mid afternoon. It was mentally exhausting. I would have happily pulled over to let the storm pass, except that I had to make it home in time for Literary Society, so I drove grimly on.
To our amazement, as we approached our home town, the rain tapered off and then stopped. The ground and road here were dry. We had outrun the storm. Lucy and I had all of five minutes to change for Literary Society and were still ten minutes late arriving at the restaurant.
I admit it was real work to focus on Pilgrim’s Progress when my back and head were aching and all I wanted to do was lie down. However, we made it through and by the time we finished our meal, the rain had arrived here. It was pouring as we drove home, but still nowhere close to the intensity we had experienced earlier.
Then, of course, I had to help Jasper finish his homework. Now I finally get to finish my homework!
