I am keeping a running journal of being car-less with
children in the burbs. This is just one
of the many life changing things my family and I are doing to live simply so
that others may simply live.
What a
wonderful thing, what a wonderful opportunity, to be able to make a deliberate
decision to live our lives on our terms and according to our moral and
ethics. I love this freedom!
Here are a few entries in my journal about my 1st
entire car-less day.
My 1st Car-less Day
This Morning 10/22/12
Wow is the first thing I have to say about going Car-less!! I never realized just how much driving from
here to there keeps you in a anonymous state, I felt so exposed to all the cars
whizzing by and people riding their bikes and walking along the same sidewalk which
my son and I walked on for our .87 mile walk to school today. I did not realize how much driving kept you
isolated and kept you from not having to share your immediate space with others
that you don’t know. So with all that
in mind my1st morning without driving my son to school was…. I am ashamed to
say… pretty stressful for me!
It was hard for me to fully enjoy our walk because I was
concentrated on how uncomfortable I felt from being exposed and out in the
open. We took a busy and noisy path to
school today, it was a little shortcut compared to the other route that is 1.17
miles. My son enjoyed the walk at the
beginning, he was admiring the leaves on the trees and noticing the littlest
things that you don’t see from the back seat of a minivan. After about half way through he started to complain that
it was taking to long and his legs were getting tired and kept insisting that
we were lost and that we must of passed up the school because it does not take
this long in the car… eye opener for him! LOL!
Some of the positives of our walk this morning would be I
did notice the smell of fresh pine as we walked by some towering pine trees,
and I did notice the pretty leaves on the ground because that is where I sort
of kept my focus on so that I would not be so overwhelmed by all the noise of
the cars whizzing by. It was nice that I
was able to hold my son’s little hand in mine all the way to school and not
once did he complain about having to hold my hand. We were able to experience something new
together and lean on each other for comfort in our own little way, his way
being overly talkative and mine holding his hand extra tight. I also had an opportunity to smile and say
good morning to a couple of people who shared the sidewalk with us.
The most crucial aspect about our walk was that I learned
that being in the car driving from here to there creates an artificial bubble,
a fence around you that keeps everything surrounding you at bay…. You don’t
hear the birds chirping, the trees rustling in the wind, see the leaves on the
ground, or smell the scents that nature provides. All the sights and sounds are
dulled or silenced out by the windows and the radio. I am truly blessed for this eye opening and
awakening this morning… this is just one of the many adventures I look forward
to sharing with my family on this road of being car-less and living a life that
is “Simplicity Homemade”.
The Afternoon/Evening Walk 10/22/12
Well I must say that the walk to school to pick up the
children was a lot better than the walk this morning. I think that some of my anxiety on the morning
walk was due to a lack of sleep, I had only 2.5 hours of sleep before I took my
1st Car-less walk to school. I
am glad that I switched things up a bit and took the longer route to pick up Coby
from school this afternoon and that route was a lot more relaxing but it seemed
so much longer. J.J and I counted the
number of bird nests we saw in the naked trees.
It seems as if walking brings out the talkies in the
children, J.J talked and talked…. and I listened. I was a bit concerned that I may have left a
little too late to pick up everyone from school on time. Hmmm… that is something that I have to get
use to…which is leaving a lot earlier because a 2 minute ride in the car is a 18 minute
walk!! It was a nice walk, we were drizzled
on by the rain, we saw bird nests in the naked trees, a pond behind some houses that we never
noticed while driving in the car, the children and I talked and talked about whatever
came to mind. I felt energized when we
got home and went straight to fixing dinner for the night, all and all the
afternoon walk was pleasant and the children seemed to enjoy it as well.
