Isn't That Just Darling?

After our lovely weekend in Reno, we flew back into Phoenix to drop Shmee off, then Robb and I hopped in to our car to drive back home to Tucson. It's about an hour and a half drive, which isn't bad. It's just short enough that right about that point where you are suddenly tired to death of driving, you're just about there.

Robb of course got immediately absorbed in his Gameboy SP, so I was left to my own devices. I sang, I dozed, I had a couple shots. At one point, I looked to my right, and there was an SUV with a little girl frantically waving at me. When she saw she had my attention, she held up a sign that said "Honk for the Kid". I honked, and the whole family erupted in cheers.

It got me thinking, though, about all the things I did to amuse myself as a kid when we used to make that drive a lot. I of course didn't have a gameboy back in the stone ages, so had to make the best of what I had. I couldn't read, because I tend to get motion sick very easy, and even today reading in a car will make me sick almost immediately. I often would take my walkman, and as I love to sing, I would sing along softly (I thought). Of course, it turns out that everybody else along for the ride was smirking and winking at each other and trying not to laugh. I didn't say I was good at singing, just that I loved it. I also used to draw a lot. It seems that cows were a particular passion of mine; I used to draw them quite a bit. Always a side view, with the head turned towards the viewer. Sometimes with a few strands of grass out the side of her mouth, sometimes with horns, and almost always with spots.

But what the little girl with her sign really reminded me of was the time I took a piece of my drawing paper and made a sign that said "PLEASE HELP ME THEY'RE TAKING ME AWAY" and held it up for every car that passed. Finally, my grandmother asked what I was doing. I think my poor Grandad's head almost exploded.

I didn't get to draw anymore on that trip.