Transitions to a Higher Gear

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Well, here we are again on the cusp of another of life’s transitions to a another gear.  This time it is definitely a higher gear though, which presents both opportunities and challenges at the same time, which is about as tricky as navigating a banked turn at 220 mph with a full track.

On Recalibration, Shifting Gears Fluidly and Moving Forward With Determination

On Recalibration, Shifting Gears Fluidly and Moving Forward With Determination

Greetings!………

…….and here is to new beginnings everyone!   First of all, I must apologize for hiding in the garage most of the time for pretty much 39 months now and being so silent.  A lot was going on these last few years and I guess you could say that my lady  was in the process of recalibrating, learning how, for actually the first time, to shift into the correct gear and let the engine of the universe do most of the work.  Suffice it to say that she has been fighting the transmission most of our lives; this has not been easy for me to witness.  She seems like she has finally fell into a gear in which she is comfortable, at least for the present time.  I know the calm may not last long because I know for sure that she is now in her “thinking and planning” phase.  Once she is done “thinking and planning” I can rest assured that her foot will be in my carburetor again!

I am hopeful though that  her thinking and planning phase will give me the opportunity to fill you in much more on what we both have learned over the past three years and three months and what I think is coming up over the next three to six years in our lives.  I really do feel that documenting some of the experiences that have touched our lives might actually help pave a road for some of you to navigate through life’s hair pin curves a little easier than we had because frankly, I wound up spinning my back wheels in a couple of roadside ditches over the past few years.  But we made it out eventually, even if we needed some human assistance in getting out now and then.

So fasten your seat belts and as those of you who love roller coasters like the Texas Giant at Six Flags as much as my lady does know, you should “keep your arms and legs inside the car at all times and do not stand up………..”

Many happy RPMs,

The Car

On Downshifting and Letting Go

Good Morning Everyone!
Greetings here from the curb–it is a lovely day here although a bit colder than usual. Fall is definitely setting in and winter is coming. Will someone out there please tell my lady that if she intends to park me at the curb through the winter I will need a more substantial cover? Something with a soft flannel inside would be nice. Honestly, she had to know I was a bit grumpy yesterday morning when she tried to get me to turn over. But then again, I know she was a bit out of sorts yesterday because she jumped in and woke me up right away. Usually, she lets me ponder and purr a bit but this morning and yesterday she was all business. I know better than the complain when that is the case, so I just moved into gear and away from the curb on command.

I overheard her speaking to one of her close friends yesterday, so I know that she has been worrying over and missing especially her dear friend who passed away almost nine years ago now. Well, maybe worrying is not the right word; after all her good friend has passed on to the next life. Actually, I think my lady is distraught and I think she is feeling like she needs to properly let go finally after all these years. But it is hard for my lady. She loves unconditionally and the bond that she and her good friend shared was singular and about as deep as our love for each other. Something like that is rare for sure and I know that the reason my lady has such a hard time downshifting (well, I call it downshifting but maybe most of you refer to it as “letting go”) at certain times in our lives–she misses her dear friend too much. Consequently, it looks like I may have to take the wheel for a bit here, no pun intended. While I am driving, let me cogitate a bit over the question of what exactly is unconditional love and what happens to a person when someone one loves that dearly passes away. This is a fairly complicated topic, especially where my lady is concerned. I promise to write more tonight when I think this through. In the meantime, I just saw my lady speaking to the manager of the service station where she gives me my weekly bath. Turns out that she is trying to get a job detailing the cars there at the car wash. They thought she was kidding, but when she told them she was not joking, they did give her an application. Well, at least her children won’t starve and I won’t go thirsty either–or lack my weekly bath if she is successful at getting some hours there!

TTYL,

The Car

On Beginning, Moving On, Bluebirds, Throttles and Downshifting

Greetings again friends!

I hope everyone is well this lovely evening! I promised in my last post to tell you the story about the bluebirds, so here it is. Have you ever wondered why bluebirds are referred to as the “Bluebirds of Happiness”? And, perhaps most importantly, how many of you have actually seen a real bluebird in its outdoor habitat? I would venture a guess that not many of you have. Yet for years, the bluebird has been a symbol of prosperity, good health and happiness. There are bluebird statues, bluebird cookie dishes, bluebird nesting boxes put up in open meadows and backyards for the sole purpose of attempting to attract this somewhat elusive creature to one’s environment. My lady had even put up a bluebird nesting box in her backyard at one time which she had pretty much turned into a backyard bird sanctuary, complete with feeders, flowers which attracted certain types of birds and all types of nesting boxes and woodland arrangements that small birds and all types of critters could overwinter in. Prior to the bluebird sighting I am going to tell you about, my lady and I had only seen bluebirds–three of them–a few times in the yard after we had put in the bird sanctuary. So, this time was really special. Special because it was in the middle of a blinding snowstorm that we sighted three bluebirds huddling in a barren tree next to the deck of the house! Yes, my lady had been worrying a bit more than usual because she and the children were stranded in their home during a blizzard with no transportation out, little funds and no hope for any relief for the next 24 to 48 hours as the snow kept swirling about. She was asking the universe to send a sign–anything–to give her hope that their lives would soon improve, when all of a sudden those three bluebirds swooped down onto the tree, huddled together and stared right at her through the kitchen window!! My lady stood there staring at these wonderful birds for about two full minutes and when she blinked to make sure she was not “seeing things” they were still there! Smiling, she silently figured she had her sign and took that to mean that the course that was about to be charted in her life and her children’s lives would ultimately lead her to happiness, even though at the time the emotional pain she felt was almost visibly palpable in her countenance. However, what she did not know at that time was that the happiness would not be an end in itself (which was what she was hoping for), but that she and her children (all six of them) would find happiness all along the way during the journey that she and they were going to embark on. In fact, little did she know that it would take her almost a decade to grow and understand enough to experience joy for the first time in her life and definitely a decade to break free from the emotional shackles that kept her from enjoying life. She was also going to have to become comfortable with uncertainty–something she had never been good at–in order to experience true joy. But once she did experience that joy, nothing could ever hurt her again–at least in a lasting sense. So I guess this is the most important part of our story together, these last ten years. I promise to collect my thoughts enough over the next few days so that I can more eloquently tell our story which is still unfolding, in greater detail. In the meantime, my lady continues to pick up speed enjoying life full throttle despite the obstacles and challenges that are being sent our way. In fact, I have to keep reminding her to downshift adequately at appropriate times lest we fly off our course!

Sweet dreams everyone–I look forward to chatting again soon!

The Car