Thinking about it…

...please turn back time.

Thirty+ years ago, my husband and I had a sporty little Toyota…the 4-door version of the Celica called a Carina (no longer made).  It was a “four-in-the-floor” and I loved driving it…gearing up…gearing down…no problem.  The operative words here were “thirty-plus years ago”.  Just wanted to be sure you caught that.

Christmas tree harvest is upon us now and Jim’s LEFT foot is still in a cast.  He continues to heal nicely from fracturing his ankle/leg a few weeks ago.  However, he is determined to be in the farm office to direct the crew.  The problem:  obviously, he can’t drive a stick-shift with a clutch right now.  He will be driving the 15-passenger automatic van so that he can transport the seasonal workers at the crack of dawn each morning.  He tells me that the workers will need every “rig” which includes the farm truck he has here and he needs to pick up the automatic van at the farm for transporting the workers tomorrow morning.  The problem?  Unfortunately, the automatic van was 45 minutes away at the Christmas tree farm…through small mountains, rolling hills, very winding roads…and, well, you get the picture.

That left you know who holding the bag.  Faced with the option of letting him do it (out of the question) or trying to recall the expertise I had 30+ years ago…it was a no-brainer.  I, obviously, would have to drive the truck.  First of all, it wasn’t a sports car.  Second of all, it was parked on our steep driveway and wasn’t going to be a cinch.   He was trying to talk me into letting him do it and I was telling him to be quiet and let me concentrate.  Going DOWN these high hills with a canyon beside it was no fun.  I made it two miles down to the stop sign and then it dawned on me that I was going to be in some actual traffic in a few minutes trying my best to get first gear going without bucking and snorting…what used to be smooth as silk for me.

Gearing into second, third and fourth came back to me pretty quickly but each time I had to stop was stressful all over again.  Forty-five minutes later, we’re pulling into the Christmas tree farm and I realize that my blood pressure is significantly up.  I wouldn’t mind trying this driving experiment again…but with a sporty car – not a farm truck!

Obviously, we survived and I actually did better than I thought I would.  I confess that my prayer just as I got behind the wheel to leave our farm was “please, Lord, turn back time”…

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