The Daily Drive

Ernest's new school is way out in the boonies. (I can SAY that, I LIVE here.)

It's so far away that it takes a whole 12 minutes to get there if you don't get stuck behind the horse carriage, the tourists, or the high school traffic. Then it might take 15-20 minutes.

Oh, it's a dirty job. We drive past desperate housewives. And when I wait in the parking lot, I stare at dark shadows.

I hope you can tell I am joking here.

That shadowy little school house? That's the band room. How many times have I waited for my sons outside the band room? That's the story of my life, "Mom, pick me up outside the band room."

Seriously, I say a large thank you every morning that I am able to have such a beautiful drive. I vary my route home, taking different roads just for fun.

Which one is the road less traveled? I'm still finding out.

Over the next few weeks, I hope to share some of the beautiful places I pass by on our daily drive.

The Daily Drive: Plane Landing

I used to post pictures of interesting things I saw on the daily drive to and from Ernest's school.  But since he got his driver's license, I don't take the drive much any more.  The Handy Husband drives to work every day but usually his drives are uneventful.  Not so on Friday!  A plane made an emergency landing on the freeway!

There was some convoluted talk of "fuel starvation" on the news reports, but what it boils down to is that it just ran out of gas!

The Daily Drive: A Park

As we leave our small town on our daily drive, we pass a park.


It used to be, back in my day, that the road turned at right angles to go around a field. While I was away at college, the city purchased some of the field and diagonalized the road. This left a triangle of land which sat unused for many years. What to do with the "triangle" was a frequent discussion for the city council. Wisely, they decided on a park, and began work on it about 5 years ago.

Look at these tiles. We have a secret...Ernest created some of them.



He was 9 years old and had taken some art classes at the local museum. The museum director liked him, and invited him to be part of a kid's project to paint tiles for the new park, even though the minimum age was 10. My little man was always getting special treatment like that.

One Saturday, he joined older kids at a ceramics studio to create his own tiles...a few weeks later he went back to glaze them.

Ernest's own design of a raccoon.
Note the fine mask detail around the eyes.
Sadly, its tail was broken off during the firing.

They let me help too, and I colored a lot of bees.



Never having done anything ceramic before, it felt odd to put some dull colored liquid on the tiles and trust that they would turn into something brilliant.

Getting back to the park...is this not the most AMAZING play structure EVER? This was the first part of the park completed and it was popular from the first day it was open. I was sad that Ernest outgrew it so quickly.



I personally love the playhouse. Right before I took the picture, a little girl was delightedly calling, "Nana, look, I'm in the GINGERBREAD HOUSE!!"



The rest of the park grew in stages...now it has soccer fields (where Mr. Thomas started his first soccer season last week) picnic tables, and shade structures -- which have been very important in these recent hot weeks!

Even though this is a relatively new park, it has family history already.

The Daily Drive: Looming Clouds

I don't really have a daily drive anymore now that Ernest is mobile (edit - I mean since he's had a drivers license, not that he hasn't been able to move around!), but I do go out on a random basis.

Yesterday morning started off sunny, which was quite disappointing to the Handy Husband because rain was predicted and he had hustled to put the important things like his barbecue under cover.

By 10:00 the incoming clouds were ominous, so I sent him this picture to make him feel better.

It took until late afternoon to get the predicted rain.  I guess he's a happy camper now.  Or a wet driver.  Or whatever.

Wednesday has arrived with a perfectly clear sky.  Today's activities will include helping Ernest pack up the junk toys stuff he is purging from his room, taking him for another set of finger x-rays, and going to the farmer's market for pistachios.

What's happening on your Wednesday?

The Daily Drive: Sunny Sunday

Ernest was gone for 4 days to a leadership conference.  We didn't want him to leave his car in the school parking lot that long, so we told him we'd drop it off on Sunday.  After we did so, we went out to lunch.

Grilled Octopus and Calimari with Beets.  Our favorite!  For quite a while, we would split one order and it was never enough.  Finally I had the bright idea to order two, and split a salad instead.  Brilliant.  I congratulate myself every time.

Then we walked around the even smaller town.  We saw a horseshoe tree

and a Michael Jackson shrine.

On the drive home, there were vineyards

and miniature horses.

The highlight of the day's drive, as far as my Handy Husband was concerned, was seeing this McLaren MP4-12C.

We had plants to put in the yard, but it was too darn hot.  Yes!  I know!  And it's only April!

Homer also had an eventful afternoon, bringing in a lizard's tail.  I have spared you the video which included the tail moving by itself and Homer actively pouncing on it.  Instead, you can enjoy this still photo which includes my poor carpet.  In addition to trying to change the color from black to white by stealthily depositing white fur all over it, Homer and Francine are also trying to modify it from low pile to shag with a vigorous daily application of claws.  Since I only paid $99 for a floor sample, I can live with it.

Hope you had a great weekend, too.

The Daily Drive: Close Call

I learned something on the dark drive home from Hogwarts Tuesday night.

A deer running across the road does not prance like this.



It is simply a silvery brown blur in the headlights.

I didn't even see it coming. If Ernest hadn't seen the first deer run across the road and called out "DEER," I would have hit the second deer for sure. With his warning, I slowed and the deer flashed by me about 5 feet in front of the car.

Funny thing, it was just around the bend from the haunted house...

The Daily Drive, Halloween Edition

Just past the park, we pass this supposedly haunted house.

Supposedly...at least on YouTube. I've lived here forever and while the house has been ramshackle and more recently deserted, I've never heard it was haunted.

Here it is. I warn you, don't watch it! You'll be sorry.

(...It's boring.)



I dunno. I didn't see anything. Did you?

Here's the sequel.



I STILL didn't see anything. I could take some shaky videos of my own house and make it even more scary. I've got the cobwebs!

I've asked the opinion of a high school classmate who lived on the same road. I'll let you know if she has any vital information, otherwise I think this is a total bust.

But it's still fun to drive by.

Weekly Drive

I really miss the daily drive, taking Ernest to school. He was so excited when he got his driver's license because he thought he was imposing on me when I drove him somewhere. It wasn't an imposition; I loved it. We had some great adventures.

I enjoy heading in a new direction on the way to visit the lovely M-I-L once a week.

A few weeks ago we drove from the ocean...

to the forest...

No, not really the forest. Just a driveway through a vineyard. We were on the hunt for the Cuban food truck! Success! The most delicious Cuban sandwich and yuca fries.

Last weekend was not so exciting. Just an expedition to Costco and a hot dog.

Looking Up and The Daily Drive: Bird on a wire

I've seen the power lines loaded with more birds than this, but this is what I managed to capture.

It always reminds me of this.

The Daily Drive: Fog

The fog was thick this morning. I should use my time wisely and take more pictures while Ernest is driving.

Now he's discovered the "sport mode" on my car. Actually we can blame my husband for that. He told Ernest about it last night. "Mom, it's like turning the car up to eleven. But your car's already an eleven."

The Daily Drive : Apples

And here's another break from the favorite things....This has been floating around in my drafts for a while.

Just north of the deer crossing, and across the road from the haunted house, is Apple Lane Farm. No surprise, it's owned by the Lanes. This is the scene of many first grade field trips. Mrs. Lane knows everything about apples and the little woollybugger moths (honestly, they have a real name but I can't remember it) and the pheromone sticks they use to repel the moths.

A useful tip for squeamish children -- even if the apple has a hole in it it's still OK to eat...the moth caterpillar has gone all the way into the core and the rest of the apple is fine.

Here's six-year-old Ernest on his field trip way back in 2002.


It looks like his friend picked more apples than he could carry.

Sweet sweet memories. Makes me want some apple pie right now!

The Daily Drive: Truffula Trees

There are truffula trees at Hogwarts. I know, I'm mixing up my book analogies, but look at these! They've been fascinating me for weeks.


Yesterday I finally got up close. It looks like a New Zealand Tea Tree.

I've been wanting one just for the color. But the nurseryman dissuaded me, saying they don't do well here. But then why is the nursery selling them, hmmmm? Maybe I'll give it a try.

Thematic Photographic: Weathered and Worn

This weeks prompt, hosted by Carmi at Written, Inc., is "Weathered and Worn."

I don't know how many times we passed this tumbledown shack on our daily drive.  Now that my son is driving himself to school, I really miss the time we spent in the car and the sights we saw from the windows.

Looking Up And The Daily Drive: Circus Windmill

A termite-tented windmill is one of the odder sights I have seen around here.