advertisement
-
mara williams
on Jun 18 2013 - 06:00 AM
Hey, manchild, mama says: clean your room, wash the dishes, don't drink and drive.
- read more
Emily Parnell
on Jun 16 2013 - 06:00 AM
Eating fresh, local produce is good for body and soul
- read more
Jim Cosgrove
on Jun 13 2013 - 06:00 AM
I just want to buy some pants. Please, turn down the music.
- read more
-
This shoe, fortunately has a match.
I am driving down the highway, the sun is shining and my hair is whipping about with the breeze coming through the open windows. My voice is echoing the all too familiar chorus of Pearl Jam’s “Alive”. I slow for a curve that is ahead and it catches my eye. The carefree moment escapes out the window as my vision is now set on the object that is sitting on the side of the road. I am focused on a single shoe haplessly lying on the shoulder of the highway. I am now somber, clad with goose-bump type armor.I know what you must think. How does such a simple object, a mere shoe, take away my happy-go-lucky demeanor? It is my brain working overtime, wondering how someone could just throw away their shoe. I am trying to decide why someone would just split a pair since everyone knows shoes work much better when there are two instead of one. I am curious to know if perhaps there was an accident, the shoe was lost. I am worried that perhaps there is someone out there with only one shoe and just maybe they can’t afford to buy another pair. Perhaps maybe they are yearning, wishing they had their shoe back to bring warmth back to their cold toes.It does occur to me that this is the antics of a child. Their mom or dad is so focused on the road ahead and just maybe the back window is open. Wouldn’t that be just too much of a temptation for a small child and they might just have the wise notion that it would be funny to hang their shoe out the window but not so funny when the wind catches just right and it flies across the road, landing on the shoulder. Gone forever from the little tot, cars whizzing by, that shoe has a story. This untold story will probably never be known.It is this unknown story that draws me into my melancholy mood. My mind is split into many different angles when I think of this. The first, the environmental angle, is that shoes, either singly or in a pair really don’t belong on the road. I get over myself enough to move to the next angle, which is my rational side. Shoes cost money and you should take care of them and keep them together. This is the side that I can hear my parent’s voice, telling me over and over, “Take care of your stuff”. Moving over to another section of my compartmentalized brain where my soft side resides. Where I am worried that someone is really wanting, no needing that shoe. I am moved to help, but I don’t know how.Finally, my motherly side comes in. A child playing around is an all too familiar scenario in my life. The picture in my mind is as clear as day. What vexes me about this scenario are the flashbacks of my childhood when it was reiterated to us every year before we got on the bus for the school year. DO NOT PUT YOUR HANDS AND FEET OUTSIDE OF THE BUS WHILE IT IS MOVING AT ANY TIME. The same rule that I have drilled into my children. The same rule that is on the bus cards the kids receive at the beginning of the school year.Fortunately, this is all fleeting for me. I think about this long enough to lose a few minutes of my time. Soon enough, I will be singing along with the radio, my thoughts on whatever comes in front of me next. That is until the next shoe I see.
I love old school Pearl Jam and am glad they are making a comeback. I have a pair similar to one in the picture, but black. My daughter used to chuck her shoes out the window when she was little. I had to start double checking the window lock every time we went for a car ride. I like the imagery in your blog.
June 2013 Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 Tagslife (7)
christmas (3)
divorce (3)
growing up (3)
lessons (3)
single parenting (3)
teenagers (3)
accomplishments (2)
back to school (2)
boy scouts (2)
boys (2)
chaos (2)
family time (2)
gratitude (2)
home ownership (2)
kids (2)
motherhood (2)
new year (2)
resolutions (2)
sanity (2)
togetherness (2)
vacation (2)
yard work (2)
(1)
2012 (1)
active teens (1)
activities (1)
adult bully (1)
adventures (1)
age (1)
alright (1)
archery (1)
baby steps (1)
bad examples (1)
best friends (1)
birds (1)
birthday (1)
blog (1)
boys to men (1)
busy-ness (1)
calendar (1)
camp (1)
canoeing (1)
carpentry (1)
challenges (1)
child rearing (1)
children (1)
choice (1)
choices (1)
christmas tree (1)
cleaning room (1)
clubs (1)
coffee (1)
college (1)
college break (1)
coming out (1)
complicated life (1)
confirmation (1)
confused (1)
cookies (1)
cooking (1)
courage (1)
crawlspace (1)
cruise (1)
dance (1)
dead trees (1)
december (1)
decision making (1)
dentist (1)
dinner (1)
disappointment (1)
diy (1)
dogs barking (1)
drug abuse (1)
elections (1)
encouragement (1)
events (1)
facebook (1)
fall funfest (1)
family (1)
family table (1)
fearlessness (1)
fighting (1)
fired (1)
first jobs (1)
forgetfullness (1)
friends (1)
friendship (1)
fun (1)
funny anecdotes (1)
games (1)
goals (1)
good examples (1)
goodbye (1)
goodness (1)
grace (1)
grin (1)
happy birthday (1)
happy hour (1)
health (1)
help (1)
helping others (1)
holiday (1)
holidays (1)
homosexuality (1)
house projects (1)
housework (1)
hugs (1)
humanity (1)
independence (1)
independent (1)
individual attention (1)
joy (1)
jumbled mind (1)
kid=stories (1)
kids cooking (1)
kids saving (1)
kis growing up (1)
labels (1)
last goodby (1)
laughter (1)
laundry anarchy (1)
lemons and lemonade (1)
less hate (1)
life ride (1)
living outside box (1)
lonely (1)
mac and cheese (1)
magazine surveys (1)
maintenance free (1)
manuals (1)
may (1)
me time (1)
medication (1)
mediocre homemaker (1)
memories (1)
mental health (1)
merit badges (1)
middle school (1)
milestones (1)
milk (1)
miss you (1)
mom meetups (1)
mom support (1)
moms dating (1)
money (1)
moral support (1)
more love (1)
neighbors (1)
nervous mom (1)
networking (1)
new years eve (1)
normalcy (1)
not a hugger (1)
numbers (1)
okay with the world (1)
oldest daughter (1)
opportunities (1)
parenting (1)
parenting more than one (1)
people are people (1)
people watching (1)
personal finance (1)
pets (1)
picky eater (1)
plants (1)
play (1)
plays (1)
poetry (1)
raising children (1)
relief (1)
rough patches (1)
sacraments (1)
sad (1)
scaredy cat (1)
self improvement (1)
sick pets (1)
snow (1)
social (1)
social media (1)
spouse (1)
stars (1)
summer break (1)
surreal (1)
surveying life (1)
symmetry (1)
tadpoles (1)
talents (1)
teaching (1)
teen angst (1)
teen bully (1)
teens dating (1)
teens driving (1)
thanks (1)
the big picture (1)
thinking (1)
thoughts (1)
time (1)
tolerance (1)
too many things to do (1)
tooth fairy (1)
traditions (1)
travel (1)
turning sixteen (1)
tweens (1)
unexpected (1)
valentines (1)
village (1)
virtual life (1)
weekend home (1)
weight loss (1)
westport (1)
wood floors (1)
working together (1)
worry (1)
wrestling (1)
writing (1)