Santa's New Sleigh

As those of us who didn't know before has most likely learned this year, the only thing certain is change.

Go, Santa!

Car Color Game

When I was a child, we sometimes traveled a from New Jersey across the country to visit my grandparents in Utah and uncles and aunts in California, Oregon, and Idaho.

In order to pass the time while rolling down the highway for several days in a row in the 1960's, we played games such as "The Alphabet Game," (click to see the rules. It's the first one on the list, followed by several others, most of which we never played) The License Plate Game, (4th on the list linked above) and the Car Color Game (not listed on the link.)

The Car Color Game involves choosing a color and counting how many cars you see in that color. The first one to whatever pre-determined number is set (1, 5, 20, 50, whatever you can agree on) is the winner!

I tended to choose my favorite colors: bright yellow, orange, green, or red, if one of my other many siblings didn't yell them out first. Funny thing about it, though, is that I don't ever remember winning.

As I recall, my older brother usually chose white, which, while at times a useful color (or absence of color, depending on who you talk to), is also one of the most boring colors on the planet, in my opinion.

But my recollection also serves to remind me that this brother of mine almost always won the game.

I wonder why?

Why Park By Me?

After experiences of having my car doors dinged by neighboring vehicles with no manners, I prefer to park far away and by myself in a parking lot. 

Which is what I did with my little blue car.

 But when I came out from the store, what did I see? A big ol' white car parked RIGHT NEXT to me.

Was I in a premium spot, or what?

Did the big white car have a crush (how punny!) on my little blue car?
Did the big car think my little car was lonely all by itself?
I just didn't get it, and didn't stick around to ask.

How about you? Have you had your car doors dinged?

(Or are you a door dinger?)

Whatever you are, you might be better at it if you apply this license plate's advice.

 I've heard that success is 90% determination and 10% inspiration...or 99% to 1%...or 95% to 5%...whatever the ratio, determination always comes out ahead, even if you're determined to park by the only car in an isolated place in a huge parking lot!

What's Your Style?

I don't know if anyone else notices patterns in cars. For example, I often make note of a red, white, and blue car in close proximity while driving along a road.

So when my candy blue car (yes, that is the actual manufacturer's name for the paint color) found some friends, I just had to take a picture. 

I once read a statistic that white is the most popular car color, and the easiest to keep looking clean even from road dirt. 

What's the hardest color to keep looking clean?

Black!

What color of car do you like? Are you a calm neutral color fan, or do you like to make a bright color impact while getting from here to there?

(In case you were wondering, my car's the one in the middle.)

Look and Find Car

This car looked like one of those picture books where the reader is challenged to find small objects amidst a jumble of items.

 Can you see a giraffe in the photo below?

 Ahhh! Swamp Man alert!

 Where are the dolphins breaking through the wood surf?

 Can you see the sunny yellow butterfly?

 Where's the horse's patootie?

 There's a zebra in there somewhere!

 Yes, there's an ostrich there (from behind...it might look like a dinosaur!)

 Do you see the octopus-eating alligator?

 A train wreck!

 Rhino climbing alert!

 Apparently pink flamingos don't only stand one-legged on lawns, but on car roofs, too.

 Mad black cat!

 What else can you find?

I don't think the owners have much trouble finding their car in a parking lot.

I wonder how they fastened everything on to not blow away?

I Can Park a Car!

I had to park my car overnight by the car repair shop. I tucked it into a corner, because I don't like parking in between cars. I've had my doors dinged by careless car-getter-inners before.

I actually backed up and went forward a couple of times to make sure my car was straight and settled in for the night.

It wasn't until I went back to retrieve my car the next morning that I saw my poor tire had been barely balanced on the curb all night long!

It's a good thing I'd bought my tires, with a guarantee, at that very establishment.

I didn't need to make a replace-a-tire claim, however, because I managed to drive away just fine.

Are you good at parking? Turning? Backing up? Parallel parking? What's your best driving ability?

This Car Belongs on Penny Lane!

When I was little, I actually thought an object's value was determined by placing money on it. When it was covered over with coins and/or bills (determined by the seller to be pennies or $100.00 bills or anything in between) that was the price one paid for it.

So this car, covered in pennies, makes perfect sense to me. (I would have gotten a closer shot for you if we'd been in a parking lot instead of an intersection!)

I wouldn't mind paying the price for a car by adding up the pennies covering its surface! I have to wonder, though, do kids try to pry the pennies off?

I once found four pennies on the sidewalk in front of our house, but couldn't pry them up. When I mentioned it to my family, one of my sons confessed that he had super glued them to the sidewalk because he thought it was funny to see little kids struggling to pick them up.

Are you familiar with the rhyme, "See a penny, pick it up, all the day you'll have good luck?" Do you believe it?

I was with someone a couple of months ago when we both saw a penny on the ground. When I asked if she wanted it, she said it was tails up, which meant bad luck. If it was heads up, it would have been good luck.

Since I'd never heard that reasoning before, I picked it up and instantly became one cent richer than she.

If you see a penny, do you pick it up?

Yet Another Patriotic Car!

I am delightfully amazed at all the different ways people show their patriotism. I spotted this sparkly car at the post office a week or two ago.

I was a little concerned about taking the front view picture because there was a person in the driver's seat, but I tucked myself into the shadowy building and zoomed in and, voila! A bright sunspot obscured the person's face, so I didn't need to get a signed release to post the picture!

  It made me smile!

What makes you smile? 

Boys Without A Door, But With A Flag

I was in the WalMart parking lot in May 2018 when I noticed a car without a door. My first thought was that I hoped it had a secure seatbelt. My second thought was, "Why are those two young men taping a flag to their antennae?"

So I asked them both questions.

First of all, they were AWOL from school, since "There wasn't much to do."

I remembered late May at my own Utah high school, and had to agree that there wasn't much readin' writin' or 'rithmetic going on at that time.

In the minds of these two friends, who prefer not to be named (would the principal really come after you now, in the SUMMER?) it was more worthwhile to get an American flag for their ride. They each had a grandpa or great grandpa who fought and even died in U.S. wars. So the flag meant something personal to them.

As for the door?

It fell off.

They planned a near-future junkyard excursion to find and attach a replacement.

I have not often found youth who have such appreciation for the American flag.

I salute you, unknown young men, for carrying on the legacy of patriotism.

And for fastening your seat belts really tight.

Car with a Halo

I found a car that was all dressed up for summer, with a flower arch halo! 

I don't know the occasion, but it was sure pretty.

 It even sparkled! 
Bob and I just celebrated our 40th anniversary. Some of our time together sparkled, and some of it fizzed like soda going flat. But we worked together to stay together, and here we are, 40 years later, living happily ever after.
We are going to three plays this summer at Tuacahn outdoor theater.
What are your sparkling summer plans?

The Dog Who Loved Me

Note: Dogs are really supposed to be referred to as "that's," not "who's," (as in "The Dog That Loved Me) but then the heading wouldn't have the familiar ring of "The Spy Who Loved Me." (Did that adventure story even enter your mind?)

Whether you know it or not, I made an instant up close and personal friend when I opened my car door one day. 

He was so enamored with my presence that he didn't even ask before he put both paws on my leg and checked out the steering wheel, as if offering to drive me to the park for a picnic. (I would provide the picnic basket, of course. He didn't watch Yogi Bear for nothing.)

"Look into my eyes," he seemed to whisper, rather moistly, into my ear. "You want to share your food with me. You want to give me all your food. And pet me. And scratch behind my ears... for hours."

"Come with me to the casbah... bring doggy biscuits. Lots and lots of doggy biscuits."

Do you believe in the power of suggestion?

(Do you have a dog that loves you?)

Look What I Saw in A Car!

Patriotic Car For Sale

I thought this car I saw for sale in a parking lot employed an interesting sales tactic.

Do patriotic cars sell faster?

I wonder if this car is named after Paul Revere's horse.

(Do you name your cars?)

A New Place to Put a Car Key

How in the world did a wind-up car go 75 mph on the freeway?

Having a key sticking out of your car wasn't so unusual when the first crank start variety of vehicle was rolling down the streets, but it's a novel place to store a car key these days.

I'd hate to have to wind it, but it might be easier than finding a place to plug in an electric car. And what if you ran out of gas on a remote roadside? It would be handy to wind your car up and just keep going.

When I was little, my dad brought home a red VW Bug car and proceeded to fit his family of 10 inside it like puzzle pieces. Then he drove us seven blocks to church.

I was generally one of the riders in the space behind the back seat with my face squished against the window. I wasn't alone, sharing the squishy spot with Bev and occasionally Greg, too.

Meanwhile, Melinda, Rebecca, and DellRay sat side by side in the back seat with Loraine and sometimes Greg as "floaters." (No seat belt laws.)

With Mom holding Carolyn in the front passenger seat and Dad behind the wheel, we had a place for everyone and everyone was in their place.

Do you like to be driven places?

Or do you prefer to be at the controls?

Eating in the Car on a Sunny Summer Day

Sometimes I eat in the car.

No matter where I eat, I usually spill. (I don't TRY to... I just do!) I even keep a towel in my car to tuck into the neck of my shirt and let the rest drape down over my lap.

But it didn't cover my seat belt.

I made a doozy of a spill when I dropped a piece of food in the padded sleeve I keep on my seatbelt to prevent it from digging into my flesh and hurting me.

It's so funny to me that Bob and my boys don't care for the pad.  Bob even takes it off if he drives my car. What is their skin made of? Rhino hide?

Do you eat in your car?

After Santa Parks His Sleigh

You thought Santa parked his sleigh and hung out at the North Pole after Christmas?

Nah. He hits the streets in a red car (check out the white bearded guy on the grill!) with antlers (a bit hard to spot... subtle, yet effective) and tracks down the best after-Christmas sales!

What do you like to do after Christmas? 

My Car Tries

My car reached 40,000 miles! (It got a synthetic oil change... yum!)

But then I thought maybe my car was experiencing a mid-life crises when I came out of work and could not see it in its parking space.

 Oh, there it is!

 It does the best it can.

And I do the best I can, too!

Are you a big red truck? Or are you a little blue car?

Head Turners

I think the last time I saw a sidecar, well, since this one this summer, was when I was a kid sitting in front of a TV with the show "Hogan's Heroes" playing on it. 

Then there was this car that would survive any collision. (Look at those teeth!) 

 Would you choose the motorcycle? The side car? Or the one with teeth?

(Rawr!)

Ghostly Handprints

When I walked out to my car, I found some ghostly handprints on my car door. Strangely enough, if someone had stood at my car and pressed their hands against it, the fingers would most likely point upward, but you can see (if you look closely with your supernatural vision) that the handprints are pointing downward.

I hope my car's not haunted by a carwash attendant. Have you ever felt haunted? (Happy Halloween!)

I Don't Want to Go in This Swamp

I really should have noted where this license plate was from 

because if their cars can run into frogs like this, hard enough to make them stick to their cars, then I don't want to be there.
Is this cute to you? Or scary?