THERE IS NOTHIN' IN THE WORLD LIKE

Driving with the windows down the first days of spring after a long, cold winter; hair wipping wildly, the wind calmly deafening in your ears like the breaking of a red flag surf on the sand. The sun, filtered through the windshield, warms you up from head to toe like a toasty little biscuit in the oven. It's the adult version of swinging on a long rope swing in the spring, under a big, cool oak tree...head back, eyes closed, shoeless, the sun playing peekaboo with your closed eyelids, the organic smell of leaves, dirt, rope and the slightly musty, wood seat.

My late granddad, Papa, used to take a drive with grandma "Mom" every fairweather weekend; now I know why. I hope we're right about having wings in heaven and if we are, Papa is up there taking the Angels "driving" everyday.

So, we drove Nathan back to Atlanta today to trade him back for Molly (I think it was a good trade); it was freedom from the stress of this weekend and took us back to when we were in high school and took trips together to Texas, where some of Gerald's family lived and when we drove back and forth together from college in Florida. Release from worries from one point to the next.

Journey's Greatest Hits was our favorite CASSETTE back then and, of course, the CD version was blared today, as well as, Kutless, Sheryl Crowe and Sarah Kelly, some of our favorites. Music is always enjoyable but blaring while doing 80--slow for ATL--is one of the most enjoyable...at least for my fast-paced, noisy, media-saturated generation. I'm sure Papa would disagree on this point.

Oh yeah, the kids?

In the backseat, tummies full of Joe's Crabshack, huge, black headphones on their small, pasty heads, laughing eyeballs watching "Napoleon Dynamite." They're even more fast-paced, noisy and media-saturated than we; wonder what their preferred mode of transport will be in twenty years?

It was about a three hour trip and the sunset was beautiful with the mountains in the background and lakes dotted here and there where rainclouds often turn the mountains into rainspouts. We held hands for awhile; I guess the warm sun and the stressfree atmosphere makes you feel amorous. I remember my Mom and Dad used to always hold hands when we took vacations in the car.

Our kids snickered, gave each other that "Mommy and Daddy sitting in the tree..." look and soon fell fast asleep. The End.

Seems that spring brings back many good memories; another one of God's gifts, choreographed through Mother Nature just for us ordinary humans. He must really like us.