car goodbyes

Tawnia, may I offer my condolences. I know how you feel about the demise of Hank. I was very sad when we said goodbye to Zippy in February - my Toyota Echo that I drove back and forth to California more than once, to Utah a couple of times, to Montana and all over there, and my solo cross-country journey to DC. But now I'm not so sad, because it's horrifically hot outside and Zippy did not have air conditioning (or a tape deck or power windows or even power steering either, like Hank). Our new car, Zippy's cousin Speedy (another Toyota, but upgraded to a Corolla), has air conditioning which is pretty much a necessity right now. Speedy also has 4 doors, which Zippy did not, which is necessary to get Summer's carrier in and out of the car.

If you want to read about our latest conversations about traveling, check out the sisters' blog. In the last 24 hours, we've started talking about a couple of different ideas that would be SO AWESOME!!!

I also remember the smell of fresh-cut grass ... but the first thing that came to mind when I read the question was all the smells of Christmas from the tree and baking. I also remember the smell of the cedar trees at the end of the house that we used to climb (and the ones we played under that are no longer there), and we'd get pitch all over our hands and clothes. And I remember the smell of the warm fresh flour when Mom would use the wheat-grinder and bake bread. Mmmmmm!!! And I remember the smell of fruit when we would can peaches and pears at the end of the summer. This is making me nostalgic ...