Commuting Comforts

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I have a long commute to work – 41.3 miles, to be exact. Several years ago my husband and I decided that we wanted to live in the country, away from the long lines of traffic lights, where it might take 20 minutes to drive 2 miles. So we moved away from the cookie-cutter neighborhoods of suburbia to the rural countryside just north of Cumming, Georgia. That was while I was still in school. Just before I graduated I was offered a job at my Alma Mater, Oglethorpe University in Atlanta. My first two thoughts upon the job offer were: 1. Yeah! I’ve got a job! and 2. Damn, that commute is gonna suck. And it does. It really, really sucks. Atlanta has some of the worst traffic in the nation, and I get to enjoy it 5 days a week. On a good day with no traffic (like a weekend) the drive takes 50 minutes. Most days it takes me and hour and 15 minutes, one way. My record for longest commute is 3 1/2 hours round trip on one particularly bad day. So, yeah, I spend a lot of time in the car.

Like most things in my life, I try to look on the bright side and I’ve found that there are some hidden benefits to a long commute:

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My Existential Magazine Crisis

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A sample of magazines in my house. It took me 2 minutes to pull these together. Some brand new issues, some from years ago that I’m saving.

I’m a magazine junkie. I love the feel of a fresh issue, and determine the caliber of each by the number of pages I dog-ear. Once I pick one up, it’s hard for me to set it down. I love they way they flow (good magazines, anyway) with short articles mixed with features, lists and maybe a photo essay. I prefer reading print magazines to online articles simply for the presentation. In the same way that music artists craft their albums with one song purposely transitioning to the next, magazines need to have a rhythm. And my heart loves the rhythm of magazines. Continue reading →

The Tree Tradition: Preserving Childhood One Ornament at a Time

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Today my kids and I took down our Christmas tree. Removing and boxing up all the ornaments is a lot less fun than putting them on the tree, but it gives me the chance to reminisce about the memories they hold. When I was a kid my parents bought me an ornament every year so that when I left the house as an adult, I wouldn’t have an empty Christmas tree. I’ve continued the tradition with my kids and my husband and as a result, our tree’s limbs are always heavy with ornaments, each with its own story to tell.

My kids love putting their collection on the tree each year. They’ve outgrown the toys and movies and TV shows that many of their ornaments represent, but it reminds them of what was important to them at that time in their lives. It puts things into perspective as they realize that with each year they change just a little, and the things that their world revolves around now will be only be a memory in a few years. But they’ll have a little reminder  – a Christmas tree full of them, in fact. Continue reading →