Thursday, October 22, 2009

Traffic: Theme Thursday

Image from http://www.inhabitat.com

Do you ever imagine your life as a mega road trip? Think about it.

Your trip begins by learning how to navigate your parents' car up and down the driveway to get the feel of the car.

Then you graduate to driving in parking lots and back roads.

The first time you navigate an actual city street, your heart is in your throat. You have to remind yourself to keep breathing.

U-turns and K turns present challenges, but nothing you can't eventually manage. Parallel parking becomes the ultimate barrier to gaining the coveted driver's license, your graduation to being a grown-up. Hopefully, years from now, no one will care how many times you had to take the road exam for your license.

Eventually you learn how to merge onto a main highway and sail away, gaining confidence. You become one with the car, sailing on cruise control.

There are many exciting places to go, people to see, adventures to enjoy!

Until you get to the dreaded "Construction Ahead" sign. Then things start to s...l...o...w down.

Do you do a U-turn to go back and find a more manageable route? Or do you forge ahead, switching over to four wheel drive and weathering the bumps and dents, laughing all the way? Do you see this bump in the road as the making of a great story? Or does it immobilize you all together?

You may feel like you're back at the beginning and it seems like you'll never advance. But then you discover that it was just one of those merge situations, where two lanes of traffic were vying for the same lane. Once you're past the merge point, things speed up again and you sail away.

Hopefully you go through life without any accidents, but every once in a while the inevitable happens. Boom! You're hit head on by some disaster. You won't know until the dust settles whether you've escaped intact and unscathed.

One way or another, you make your way back home again. Whether you pull the car safely back into the driveway in one piece, or barely make it (with the engine sputtering and choking and the bumper hanging) is still a mystery.

So where am I on this ultimate Road Trip of Life? Hopefully, only midway. What I do know is that my car reflects my life. She's got over 150,000 miles on her, there are a few dents and dings and the rust is starting to form around the wheel wells. I've been over some rough roads, but she's always gotten me to where I wanted to go. The engine is still sound and there are many more miles left in her before she's relegated to the scrap heap.

Wait! Hold the phone! What is this schlock that I just wrote? It sounds just like Dr. Seuss in Oh, The Places You'll Go! Oh, crap! Pretend you never read this... it's just too humiliating. (But it was such a cool traffic light picture, I just had to use it.) Damn Theme Thursday!

For a much better Theme Thursday post, go see Otin's... deliciously creepy!

Tune in again next Thursday for something that will hopefully be more entertaining and far less sappy.



P.S. I'm off to mind my friend's critters for a few days... dogs, cats, birds, fish & chickens... so I apologize in advance if I don't get to your posts in a timely fashion. Perhaps I should use the formal apology.


30 comments:

Lee said...

LOL! I love your ending.

http://howtobecomeacatladywithoutthecats.blogspot.com said...

Lee: It IS an awesome picture, though, isn't it?

NJ Pigno said...

Don't berate yourself for this post. I liked it. Good analogy. I have had a few dead ends, fender benders, and airplanes falling out of the sky onto my car of late. Right now I am in the process of limping slowly...slowly back home.

Gone, long gone. said...

I appear to be in the circle from National Lampoon's European Vacation "Look kids, Big Ben.. Parliament". Going nowhere while I'm racking up miles and burning gas.

Anonymous said...

And I lost a "headlight" on my car!

Honest!

Ha!

And I have no plans to replace it.

hee hee hee

Proud to be a one-boobed Mama!

Janice said...

Theme Thursday,great idea! I liked your post; it made me think about my "car", a little run-down and dented, but still zooming along. Enjoy all the animals.

Ed & Jeanne said...

Ha! My whole life is an out-of-control roller coaster on a bumby under-contruction road with a detour sign approaching...

Brian Miller said...

rascal flats sang about this too...life is a highway...

Jayne Martin said...

Well, I thought it was a damn good post!

Anonymous said...

Cat Lady I'll take two formal apologies and twenty dollars. Thank you.

Aw, but this was great. I liked it a lot. Seemed good for them thursday, and that is a great pic!

The Old Silly said...

Good analogy, and as usual, cleverly written and witty, lol. Me? yeah, I'm on the road of life, taking each turn, praying I never reach that bend in the road that "Depends." (wink)

Marvin D Wilson

nonamedufus said...

Wow, that post came to a screeching halt. I kinda liked where it was heading...

Me-Me King said...

Traffic? I don't need no stinking traffic! I gave up my car and stopped driving over a year ago. I just became too fed up with all the manic drivers in my area. I couldn't be happier.

Betsy Brock said...

funny!

MaddyG said...

Dear Cat Lady~
I was stuck in a construction zone for about 20 minutes today. But it gave me the chance to slow down and notice the lovely fall foilage...
I love Schlock though. Schlock and Spock. My faves! ; )

ReformingGeek said...

You lost me at "life" and "road trip".

Kidding.

Nice ride on the car of life today, VE.

Yes, please send me a formal apology, specific to my blog. Thanks.

e said...

Great posting! Enjoy the critters.

Bird Shit said...

I guess my car theme would be "crash and burn"....lol!

Madame DeFarge said...

I suspect I'm stuck in a bus lane. With the lights at never ending red.

Jen said...

I love this post, it was great. Good way to look at things. My truck has 220K miles on it and it still looks sweet. The seats are a little worn and it's full of dog hair, cereal, discarded Happy Meal toys but it's still got a lot of life in it and it has protected me in two major accidents (which is why it looks so good now, everything has been rebuilt). I love my truck.

What the hell is a K turn?

Mike said...

I loved what you were getting at!! Then you go and link me?? Thank You, but I loved this post!

Kelly P said...

Love your post! I have a car and a van.The car is getting old but,it does get me to work.It gets me where I need to go.

The driver sign reminds me of a song called " Dizzy." HA!HA!

Harnett-Hargrove said...

Hey! I liked your life hit on traffic! -Jayne

Megan said...

Bwahaha! What an ending!

I liked it. And I love Oh! The Places You'll Go!

Anonymous said...

I love it when I , whoops I mean when the car gets serviced ...wink, wink LOL!

Jill from Killeny Glen said...

LAUGHING!
Enjoyed it.

Have a good time minding the zoo!

http://howtobecomeacatladywithoutthecats.blogspot.com said...

Nanodance: Hope you get home safely.

Maelstrom: Yeah, my life seems to be one big roundabout lately.

Quirky: Yeah, but I'm sure the remaining "headlight" is still awesome! Feel the booby!

Janice: At least our vehicles are still running.

VE: Look out ahead!

Brian: Life IS a highway.

Jayne: Thanks!

Scotty: The apologies and the check are in the mail!

http://howtobecomeacatladywithoutthecats.blogspot.com said...

Marvin: It all "Depends" on how you look at it!

noname: I just felt it was time to take a break at the rest area.

Me-Me: I wish I lived in a place where I could give up my car... oh, for a decent public transportation system!

Betsy: Thanks!

Maddy: I call that slow therapy.... nothing you can do about it, so you might as well relax & enjoy your surroundings!

Reffie: I lose a lot of people! I'll pop your apology in the mail along with Scotty's.

e: Thanks! I'm already enjoying the critters... including the newest addition... "Sparky" the Wonder Cat.

Shitty Shitty Caca: Crash & burn, baby! Crash & burn!

http://howtobecomeacatladywithoutthecats.blogspot.com said...

Madame DeFarge: I'd pull the emergency cord and start walking!

Jen: Chicks with trucks are awesome! And nobody can have as much dog hair on their seats as I do!

otin: Glad you liked it. Maybe you could bring a back hoe over to dig me out of the pile of crap I just backed into.

Jayne: Hit! Don't use the word "hit" in the same sentence as traffic! Glad you liked it.

Megan: As I was re-reading what I read, I got echoes of Dr. Seuss going through my head... hence the ending.

frigginloon: I think I need to be taken in for service, too. LOL!

Jill: Oh, I'm already up to my elbows in kitty litter. I HATE kitty litter, which is why I only have black construction paper cat silhouettes at my house.

Dreamhaven said...

LOved the progression from start to finish. Great post

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