Back To Basics...

OK, after taking a noticable "vector" away from the basic premise of this LIST (reminiscent of someone we all know and love). It's time to go back to the fact LIST and away from names and such.

So, here is a basic LIST fact that has particular meaning.

A clean body is the best deodorant

While this seems like common sense, it has not been in the past and is not to this day something that children necessarily follow. We could tell stories of bed sheets that were used for 4 MONTHS without washing (or warshing) or of the random child stating on say a Thursday that it may be a good idea to take there first shower of the week. But nothing brings this fact home like the road trip. Even a short one like to Nashville or some other place.

The adventure usually started with watering eyes, opening some windows (if not in the winter), mentioning the fact that the buzzing of the flies was making it hard to hear the radio and that the car seats and dashboard were getting a haze on them.

Once we arrived at our destination and gratefully opened the doors, translucent vapors (like the heat waves coming off hot pavement) would emit from the car. Any reasonably close grass would turn brown. A few birds with startled or shocked looks on their faces would freeze in mid flight and drop like stones to the ground. (They would eventually recover but usually have a permanent "tick or twitch" when they flew away.) All of this would be followed by the occupants of the back seats getting out, joyful stretching, sighing and randomly scratching themselves with pleased looks on their faces.

After a few times like this, the parents learn to either turn the garden hose on the kids before the trip or just buy a minivan to allow more space between themselves and the kids. (Thus the popularity of the minivan).

Even with all this, the trips were great, the conversations lively and fun and the used packages of road trip food and related trash would be a site to see.

Yea, road trips

The Dad