Motion in the Ocean

I really love the outdoors. If I'm not riding my bike, I'm usually walking. When I lived in my old house, my cats, Jack, Ona (Lithuania's version of Anne) and Darwin, my terminally ill and blind dog Lucky and I all use to go out for an evening walk. The five of us would walk down the block together and walk back home. It was really a nice time. Since then, my beloved Lucky has died and so has Jack. I live on a busy street now and can't take these awesome walks with my remaining friends. So I have to do them alone and it stinks.

So, here I am, walking around at 10:00 o'clock at night minding my own business, just taking in all of the obnoxious noises and poluuted scents that the town has to offer, and I unknowingly walk between an unoccupied car and a very occupied car. I don't know who scared who more - them scaring me, or me scaring the two kids making out in the car. Needless to say, I kept walking, quickly (mostly because it was too dark and I couldn't really get a good look.) They drove away.

As I continued my walk, I began to think about the car scenario. Which of course then made me think about when any adult even has the time to actually make out in a car. Of course the thought then progressed to when was the last time I made out with anyone in a car? I had to really think about that question. I calculated that it was sometime between 1990 and 1991 when my ex-husband and I were dating. He was 18, I was 24 and I guess that's what you do when you're that age.

Wait. Stop right there. How long ago was that? 17 years ago? More than a decade and a half? Almost two decades ago? Wow. That's some time ago. How is it, that in relationships, we don't make time for the silly stuff? More importantly, why don't we? We can figure out how to work 70 hours a week, clean the house, do laundry, get some sleep here and there, but we can't figure out how to squeeze in a half an hour or maybe and hour a week of goofiness with our mates? I'm not even talking "car action." I'm talking about straight out fun. A board game, a movie, a ridiculous game of tag. We don't seem to do anything any more except worry about how we'll be able to hand over our paychecks to the gas companies while still managing to eat.

Remember the saying, "the couple who plays together, stay together?" We don't have time to play anymore. Granted these two kids in the car probably don't have children of their own and they don't have a boss that expects you to carry your blackberry into the bathroom with you, but they still manage to connect. How do we, as over-scheduled adults, reconnect? As one buddy of mine said, you just don't take that blackberry into the bathroom with you. If we use his idea, then we would be in the bathroom all day long - hiding out from "the man." I think our homework this week should be to put as much in our relationships as we do into our jobs. In the long run, we are disposable in the work force. If the boss needs to cut corners, they don't really care if they fire us, as long as it improves the bottom line. But our families, they're the ones that have to pick the pieces up. We should really be caring about inproving the bottom line in our own households. And if that means getting our tired behinds outside in this amazing weather we're having today, then get up, get dressed, brush your teeth and go outside. Hop on your bikes and go for a ride, because our families are the ones that count in the long run.