Driving to Cape Cod

Today was one of my semi-monthly day trips to Cape Cod to visit with my parents and give them a hand with the bills and their checkbook (though in all honesty my Dad handles 95% of the bills).

I enjoy visiting with my parents and the opportunity to help out. But I think the drive down to the Cape is very restorative for me. I get time alone, time when I listen to music and think. Over the last few trips, I've also started giving friends a call to chit chat, trying to be better about keeping in touch with them.

Shortly after I left the house, I made my first call, giving a ring to Skip's cousin JH. She's a lesbian, married to her partner of more than 30 years. JH's wife has COPD, is on oxygen all day, and the cousin is a full-time caregiver (they're both retired). I've recently started calling to check in and try and give support, as I know full well how difficult and challenging that role can be. And, I enjoy her sense of humor and perspective on things. Then I called the home of two friends of ours that used to live about a mile from us, with whom we once socialized 2-3 times a month, but they moved away about 5 years ago. Our contacts have really dropped off, yet we love them and I want us to stay in touch. We had a nice chat. Couldn't reach the other person I called. (In case you're thinking I was holding a phone and driving one-handed all this time, I do wear a wireless headset and all the calls are hands free.)

That killed almost half of the drive. Then, I fired up the Dixie Chicks and listened to them the rest of the way. I don't usually listen to Country music, but I really like the music and voices of the Chicks.

I realized while I was driving along that I was happy. Very happy. Looking forward to seeing my parents. Enjoying the lovely fall weather, and the fall foliage (nowhere near peak, but still some beautiful spots of orange, yellow and red). Confident that Skip was in the capable hands of MW, and that she would have a good day herself. Not really any particular reason for the happiness, but it felt great, almost euphoric.

I always enjoy the drive down to visit, but this was definitely one of the best. I hope I can recapture that feeling soon.