When we lived out on the ranch, many years ago, Roger and I would drive into town everyday to work. He drove, I would recline my seat and meditate or just soak up the beauty of the prairie. Everytime I saw a badl eagle or two or golden eagles I knew I would have a good day, a blessing from the Great Spirit. It was about a 40 mile round trip which was a piece of cake in good weather; in winter it was potentially lethal and took a lot longer.

In the West we have always had to drive long distances; not much public transportation. Gives you plenty of time to think, talk, observe.

Then we moved to New England....Peg, I know what you mean about Boston!! I had long-haul truck drivers tell me they hated driving in Boston and would take NYC anyday over driving in Boston! I had no choice but to drive back there as Rog was gone about 95% of the time. The kids and I finished off a Subaru with it's last 50,000 of over 200,000 miles, then put about 150,000 on a Ford, over the course of a few years, traveling over hill and dale, exploring all of the wonderful history of New England. The only time I hated it was in the cities; Hartford was very bad, as well. 40 miles there FELT like 100 miles out West!

Now, I am back to driving out West and one of my favourite things to do is go for a Sunday drive...it's in the genes...my mom was the same way. We curse the drivers in town for their rudeness and idiocy with SUVs and BIG trucks, but we can still find a dirt road leading into an infinite nowhere, opening up seldom seen vistas of wildllife and scenery with takes our breath away.

I have a love/hate relationship with cars. Love where they can take me; hate what they do to the environment and hate the macho attitudes of too many drivers. Oh, and Peter, I refuse to turn my car into a living room! My cellphone is for emergencies, stays in my backpack, turned off unless I need it and then I pull over! As for vcrs and tvs in minivans, one of my op/ed pieces expressed the same sort of dismay, Peg! Just cannot understand the constant need of parents to keep their kids passively entertained. If they weren't going to interact with their kids with games, singing, etc. what heh hell did they have them for? It has almost gone back to the old adage of "children should be seen, not heard", so keep them occupied and quiet at all costs!

Whew! DIdn't mean to go on so!

kat