Two of our hatchlings ‘flew the nest’ earlier this year. I
understand that as parents we cannot clip their wings and I squawked often
enough about the chaos they created at home; but my heart has been a flutter
ever since. In recent months hubby and I
have been dreaming of simplifying life – learning to live with less at the same
time as becoming more environmentally aware.
We planned to get there purposefully, without breaking any speed limits,
but living with fewer children was not actually what we had in mind.
Eldest son lumbered off in a Hercules with a cargo of
furniture, electronic gear and food. He
landed with a flock of young adults not too far away. Daughter, on the other hand, Jetstarred
to further shores with designer luggage packed full of clothes and shoes.
Fortunately we do have flying visits from both these
fledglings. Son swoops in to borrow our
wheels to get him to ‘out of the way’ soccer games and daughter likes to
organize social gatherings with her Christchurch friends so she also needs to
borrow a car when visiting.
Last year we had four sets of wheels between the family –
three cars and a brand new road bike.
About October one of the vehicles became airborne and landed in a copse
of trees, never to recover the ordeal. Mercifully no one was hurt. In the same month the bike was stolen. Although heart sore about it, I have prayed
that whoever received that bike needs it more than us and will use it for
good.
In keeping with our changing values we decided not to replace
those two modes of transport. Last
Sunday, however, hubby and I were left at home without a car because two
offspring needed them more than us. This
wouldn’t have been a problem except daughter went to purchase a new laptop and
realised that she didn’t quite have enough in her account to pay for it. I (mobile bank) was called to come to her
urgent rescue. “But I have no car” was
my exasperated response. A few texts
later the problem was solved.
Male friend A, who was on his way to join her with necessary
computer advice, screeched to my doorstep to give me a lift. So this was how credit card and I were
“chauffeur driven” to the mall in a vehicle smelling of perfume de student with a hint of banana skin.
Daughter winged it back to Wellington later that afternoon
then tweeted us with a message. “I’ll be
returning to Christchurch soon with a group of friends. Can we borrow a car to go off to Hanmer
for two nights?”
Son is sure to need the other wagon that weekend so I will
turn my attention to studying bus time-tables and working out how hubby and I
can get to the Lyttelton farmers market for our usual Saturday jaunt. Does this ruffle my feathers? Actually not, I love seeing my brood even if
only fleetingly. And hubby and I are going
to have to use our feet and discover an alternate form of travel that may start
to fit more with our changing values.
One more thing to add: I have found an unexpected set of useful wheels. When tidying the garage (part of our de-cluttering and simplifying life process) I came upon an old shopping trolley that will be just perfect for taking on the bus and transporting our market produce!
P.S. Our cars are far too ordinary to feature in this article so I cheated and used images from my photo library
