Lessons From Pat and Charlie

Since our car has recently died (may she rest in peace) I have had a couple of people ask me when we plan on getting another one. At the moment we are back to being a one-vehicle family, and to be quite honest, I'm not in a hurry to get another car. Why? Because of what I have learned from Pat and Charlie.

So who are Pat and Charlie? They are my feet. Pat is my right foot (cuz he gives me a little trouble sometimes) and Charlie is my left because there's something that's not quite "right" about him. Although I occasionally drive Ben in to work when I need to have the car for something, most days I am "stranded" at home without a car and must rely on Pat and Charlie to get me where I need to go. I absolutely love it.

I know, I know - I must be crazy. I have an awful farmer's tan on my arms and neck, a sock line around my ankles AND a flip-flop line on my feet (didn't know that was possible). I have to walk to the school which is 1/2 mile away three times a day - in the morning to take Olivia, at lunchtime to take Kelsey, and at 3:00 to pick them both up. Occasionally Kelsey and I want to make a trip to the library in the morning (a mile away) and if the weather is nice the kids and I may walk to the nearby park or to Bronco lake in the evenings. So other than miles of exercise and freakish tan lines, what else do I gain?

*Quality time with my girls every day - we talk while traipsing about town

*The renewed appreciation of the miracle of spring - I know it sounds trite, but I have seen some marvelous things in my walks that I never would have seen driving. In fact, just today I walked through a summer "snow" shower. The light wind was blowing white seed tufts off of some sort of weeping willow-type tree. Because I'm out walking past the same trees and flowers almost every day I can watch each step of their new growth. It's amazing.

*New friends - I can't tell you how many different types of birds I see. I'm starting to recognize their songs, colors, and habits. And the other day I found a cat stuck in a tree. Of course, there's people I see and greet regularly, too, but I love the birds most of all.

*Greater love - Now I really am turning into a sap. But it's true. I think my soul is made up of sunshine. The more I am outside, the more peaceful I feel and the more loving I am to my children and husband.

Here's a few pictures from my trip to school one afternoon with Kelsey. I thought you might enjoy the regular sights I see...

This is an oil derrick. You can find these all over the place in Oklahoma! This one just happens to be in the stadium parking lot of UCO. (We also drill for oil on our state house grounds...)

Every day Kelsey has to stop at the bus stop bench for a "rest" and take a sip of her water.

She decided to ride her bike this day - usually she's on her scooter.
This is our friendly crabapple tree. We watched it blossom, and saw how the stamen in the center of the blossom turned into fruit. At least, the ones that were fertilized did...

This is how big they are right now. The girls are anxiously waiting till they are "big" enough to pick and eat. Of course they won't get big at all, but they had a good time picking them last autumn.

The view from the stroller... Connor's got a pretty good farmer's tan, too. Don't worry, grandmas - I just bought him a hat that he can't get off at Old Navy to help keep the sun out of his eyes.