Happy New Year

I have not yet blogged in ’07. I guess this would be a good day to start.

I finished ’06 by doing a lot of driving and riding. Our car was on the road for two continual stretches of approximately 20 hours each—once on Christmas and once on New Year’s Eve eve.

I suppose it’s not really news that we did not run out of gas during those 2,200 plus miles of driving. We consumed lots of gas and we were responsible to make sure the tank never ran too low.

Being one that doesn’t like to stop much on a long voyage, I am always tempted to make each stop count. Making one stop count as potty break, gasoline refueling, and stomach filling is my version of a trifecta. Getting all vital fluids exchanged in sync is always a worthy goal for me. It’s the game I love to play as we race against the clock.

In playing this game we were successful the entire week. Not once did we sputter to the gas station. We tempted the reddish orange light that appears at the bottom of the fuel gauge a few times, but not once did we have to call for roadside assistance. I take care to have things like this under control.

However. (And you knew as well as me that this was coming.) However, once I did run out of gas. On a family vacation. On the interstate. Pulling our camper. In Wisconsin. On our way to the Dells. And I will never, no never, be allowed to forget that event. It is the story that our family’s identity revolves around. And it is the tale that is constantly referred to anytime the gas gauge nears half a tank. “Remember the time . . .” “Yes, yes, I remember.” “And remember . . .” “Yes, yes I remember.”

So the good news of this past week, in addition to seeing family and friends, was that we ran not out of gas. But I did get to relive that memory a number of times, each time I suggested that we could make it at least one more exit. (And as a side note, none of us suffered from malnutrition or incontinence.) As a family we were in sync. May 2007 be as good.