It was so quiet . . .

Today we found one of the few places near the city where you can enjoy the sound of silence.  Just the rustle of the wind in the pines.  The buzz of a bee. The whispering, rushing cascade of the river about a hundred steps away.  Picnic time in the mountains near Boulder.

He? She? It?

We have a friend who had trouble naming his dog.  When asked what the dog's name was, he would answer truthfully:  "Don't Know." In truth, that was the dog's name.

So what to name our new little smart car?  It's no longer "Don't know. . ." —at least for me.  I've just elevated his status as an inanimate noun to a higher plane.  Now when I ask Tom "Should we bike to the store or take the car?" I think of "the car" as his proper name, as in "Should we bike?  Or take The Car? The little guy who spells his brand name in all lower-case letters appears to like the proper upper-case attention.

I realize that the article "the" in English, unlike its counterpart in French and Spanish, appears to be a gender-neutral pronoun.  But in the sentences above, I --without thinking about it-- gave our little car a masculine identity.

I confess that the previous use of "his" and "the little guy" were written without a pre-determined sexual decision on my part.  But now I can't say "Don't know" about his sexual orientation.  It was determined, albeit serendipitously--by me at least. Tom may have a different opinion.

I'll agree that some cars exude much more testosterone and masculinity.  Nevertheless, from my perspective, he is what s/he is.

Life's too short . . .

Hope your Sunday drive is as much fun as ours.

One size fits two!

Three years ago, when Tom said a Mercedes convertible was on his bucket list, I asked him: "What color smart car did you say you want?"

We were smitten with the cute car, and "cute" has been the operative word for everyone who sees it.

Nevertheless, our kids chose to name the little vehicle "Wannabe," insinuating that most likely it wanted to be a full-fledged car, but just stopped growing.

Obviously, this little smart was meant to be Tom's, and Wannabe loves it when Tom lets him wear his Tilley!



Alas, there may be sibling rivalry ahead, for there's been a new arrival in the family. Another smart convertible.

The two little ones may never meet.  Wannabe is a Floridian, happy to stay on Marco Island all year long--even when we're not there.  And the new arrival  (girl?, boy?)— as yet un-named—will live in Boulder, even when we're not here.

As a dear friend here at Horizon West said, "Congratulations to the proud parents of two premature cars."

P.S.  Any suggestions for a name would be appreciated.