Road trip
This morning was full of trip preparation, because today was my day to drive the kids to my brother’s house. They get to stay there for four days while I attend Conduit with Howard. The three hour drive became four hours due to road construction and a stop for “we will not go any further until there is a compromise that ends the screaming.” The trip included lots of pleas for food, lots of handing things back to Patches who was entertaining himself by dropping them, and lots of inquiries regarding the status of our travel. (Are we there yet?)
We arrived and the kids scattered gleefully to play with their cousins. I visited with my sister-in-law and my brother when he arrived home from work. I only stayed for about 90 minutes because I had to make the trek back to my house and prepare for a convention. I made sure to spend a minute talking to each kid individually before I left and I gave them hugs. Then at my moment of departure I just poked my head into the various locations where they were playing and waved a cheerful goodbye. They all waved cheerfully back and I left. No tears, which I keep assuring myself is a really good thing. Making a big production out of mommy leaving would definitely rank pretty high in the Bad Idea column.
As I drove away from my brother’s house I was very aware of the cavernous emptiness of the van behind me. I habitually count heads in the rearview mirror whenever I’m driving. All I could count were emptinesses. Yup. Still four. In an effort to give my brain a different occupation, I began playing CSI: Interstate. I examined the various splotches and skid marks as I drove past them. Some of them were simple, some complex. All of them bore mute testimony to the fact that someone had a very bad day on that very spot. I also played “identify the carcass,” but mostly I was only able to determine “avian” or “mammal” before I zipped on past. Interstates are not very cheerful places.
I confess that having three uninterrupted hours for thinking was rather nice. I composed most of this journal entry in my head during the drive. It was also a bit lonely. I wished for Howard to talk to. I like taking road trips with Howard. We end up having conversations about the road trip which is our life. Much of our long term planning occurs during road trips. But Howard wasn’t on this trip with me and talking on a cell phone while driving is something I try to limit.
As it got dark I found a new entertainment solution. I stuck in my Les Miserables cd, turned up really loud, and sang along as loud as I could. That was fun. I don’t get to do that if anyone else is in the car. Now I’m home and I’ve got piles of stuff to do before I sleep. Which is normal except that it’s all convention stuff and there are no kids to put to bed.