Monday, May 19, 2008

The Daily Commute

I drive about 45 minutes to and from work each day and right now I love that it is almost light out at 6am! I really don’t mind the drive. There is hardly another soul on the road, so no idiots or traffic jams to deal with (gotta love rural Michigan). There are a lot of things I look forward to on my drive as well.

First there is “man with no hands”. This gentleman is in his 70’s or 80’s and is a double amputee. He has hooks for hands. They don’t slow him down a bit. He has the most beautiful flower beds (everything in perfect rows). Many mornings he is already out there with his hoe working (mind you this is at about 6:15 am!). Man I don’t look forward to getting old and not being able to sleep in. Many afternoons he is out mowing his lawn on the tractor or working in his enormous garden. I saw him feeding scraps to the dog next door one morning and if he isn’t out working when I go by, the dog is at his door waiting for him. One of these days I have to stop and say hello (and learn his name)and tell him how much I enjoy looking at his flowers each day.

I mentioned in an earlier post about the family that is eating breakfast each morning in their dinning room. It reminds me of a Normal Rockwell painting. Seeing that family around the breakfast table starting their day just makes me smile.

Then there is the sheep farm. I love late May when all the baby sheep are in the field with their moms. There are hundreds of them. Those babies are not easy on the moms when they decide they want a drink though. Ouch! The family has done a lot of work on the old farmhouse and it looks really nice. In the summer they sell vegetables at a road side stand in their yard.

I can’t forget to mention the new buffalo farm. When the buffalo are up near the road I count seven of them. It seems strange to see them in Michigan. They have really big horns.

There is one place I pass that has a collection of bird cages in the side yard. There must be 30 of them. I wonder why. Of course my favorite places to visit are the asparagus farm and the strawberry farm that I have the best produce and great prices.

So yes, I am paying $3.95 per gallon and spend about $70 per week for gas, but I am able to find plenty to enjoy along the way.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Amazing viewpoint Brenda! It is so nice to hear good news and a positive attitude from someone. Isn't it nice to see that there is still simplicity and goodness in the world today? It sounds to me that $3.95 per gallon of gas is pretty cheep intertainment now-a-days :)

Again, thanks so much for sharing.

Anonymous said...

What a great way to look at things! I too enjoy my commute and the special little perks along the way. SO many times in our busy lives we're so worried about getting somewhere fast we forget the old addage..."Take time to stop and smell the roses". Sounds like you are doing just that. The attitude you have now is such an amazing thing....we're all very proud of you and look forward every day to the next chapter in the "Book of Brenda".