My.Daily.Distraction ~ Post 144: Driving Through The Winters Of Our Discontent

15 Sunday Mar 2015

Posted by duckykoren in Cars, driving, Weather

Tags

Adventure, buick, Cars, driving, greenwood, Italy, Kentville, maritime, Nova Scotia, Rome, snow, Storm, Tests

Today, the thoughts of Canadians are with the people in the Maritime provinces as they face yet another powerful winter storm. As if this winter has not been brutal enough, weather forecasters are predicting another 30 – 45 centimetres of snowfall.

I remember the cold winters in Nova Scotia very well as I participated in three of them, from 1977 to 1979.

It was my last winter in 1979, that was the most memorable for me.

That was the winter when I got my driver’s license.

At the time my husband was a member of the Canadian Armed Forces and we lived in a tiny little house next to Base Greenwood. The closest city was Kentville which was thirty miles away.

It was on a very frosty and snowy February morning when my husband drove me in our 1973 Buick Electra to Kentville for my scheduled road test.

A powerful storm had hit the night before and only the main road through the city had been plowed.

No doubt, this was frustrating for the nice man giving me the road test.

In the end, it was all over in less than five minutes.

That was long enough for the instructor to tell me to drive a block down the road, turn around and come back. Then he quizzed me on the parking brake. His final comment to me before he handed me my driver’s licence was that I went over the train tracks a bit to fast.

That was it.

Three months later Frank decided to leave the forces and that we would be moving back home. Home, to Ontario where the traffic in incredibly more intense than the sleepy little village of Greenwood Nova Scotia.

It would be several more years before I could call myself a confident driver, but not until after I had driven through Toronto a couple of times. That was when I felt that I had truly earned my motoring wings.

There is however one more challenge that I hope to face one day, and that is to be able to drive through the streets of Rome Italy.

Roman drivers are quick to tell you that anyone who can drive through Rome seven times is given an honorary Roman citizenship.

Bring it on.

My.Daily.Distraction ~ Post 102: Talking About Walking

01 Sunday Feb 2015

Posted by duckykoren in Cars, driving, Fitness, Health, Stories

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Cars, driving, Family, hospice, joke, kidding, Mother, parking lot, poker face, Shopping, shopping mall, Stories, walk, Walking

My Mother, as I knew her could be funny and challenging on multiple levels.

She had such a good poker face that there were times I couldn’t tell if she was being funny or serious.

Take the following story for example:

After her husband went into hospice care Mother got an apartment of her own.

It was a nice place and right by to a little shopping mall where she bought her necessities of life: paper towels, printer ink, orange pop, and prescriptions.

When I was visiting her in Vermont, I liked going to this shopping mall because it had all kinds of pretty little things that I couldn’t get back in Canada.

Once, when I told her I was heading out to the store she asked me if I wanted her to drive me.

I could only look at her and stare.

“Mother,” I said to her…

“It’s only a hundred yards from the front door.”

She would just shrug her shoulders and raise her arms at me as if to say:

“Okay… okay!”

Not wanting to let the matter go, I pressed further and asked:

“Don’t tell me that you drive to the store….”

Ever since she moved into the apartment I worried about her being too sedentary and not getting enough exercise.

The drive would have taken less than ten seconds, as you were only driving from one parking lot into another.

Her reply to me was that yes, she did drive her car to the store.

Then it was my turn to shrug my shoulders and throw my hands in the air.

It was about a year after she moved into the apartment building that she got her own underground parking spot.

That’s when I got a phone call from her.

“Guess what?” … she asked me.

“What?” I said, instantly afraid.

“I walked to the store today.”

“You actually walked to the store?”

… I was happily surprised.

“How did that happen?” I asked in return.

“Well, I figured it out,” she began explaining to me…

“Remember my new underground parking spot that I told you about?”

I told her that I did.

She continued…

“Well, believe it or not, when I worked it out, it’s a longer walk to the underground parking lot than it is to the store.”

I wish I could have seen the look on her face as she was telling me this so I could maybe have some indication of whether she was kidding me or not.

Either way, I was very grateful that she couldn’t see my face because I honestly didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

She always loved reeling me in like that…

In fact…

It amused her to no end.

My.Daily.Distraction ~ Post 65: “Big Mama”

19 Friday Dec 2014

Posted by duckykoren in Automobiles, Cars, Poems, Poetry

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Automobiles, Carnivals, Cars, Chesapeake Bay, Chicago, Mama, Music, Poems, Poetry, Rhymes, Songs, Tissue Flowers, Verse, Virginia, Wedding Chapel

In ’72 my Mother bought herself a sweet Grand Prix
Biggest car you ever did see
We knew that we were in for lots of fun and drama
The day my Mother told us that she named her:

“Big Mama”…

Way back in the summer in ’74
Big Mama took us cruising on the Chesapeake shore
My four Carroll Sisters were the sweetest little cuties
As we raised the car roof while singing to the Doobies…

Quiet Kim could always put our hearts aglow
We begged baby Sister Doe to give us a little show
How we laughed till we cried when she sang us “Disco Duck”
Pappy called us all trouble
And we didn’t give a cluck…

And then there was the time in fall ’75
Up to the Fair Big Mama did drive
I talked up all the Carnies and flirted all night
While Cindi and Crystie danced in the moonlight…

On the last summer days of ’76
We had rum on our tongue and smoke on our lips
And Big Mama’s stereo was cranked good and loud
To Chicago’s chart topper
“If You Leave Me Now”…

To me, Summer ’77 was Big Mama’s finest hour
It had nothing to do with her size or her power
Pappy dressed up in tissue flowers and she looked so fine
And then she got me to the wedding chapel on time…

Well, Big Mama got old and she’s now long gone
Sister Cindi asked if I could write Big Mama a song
It took two days for me to write these little old rhymes
So we could remember Big Mama and all the good times…

❤ * ❤ * ❤ * ❤ * ❤ * ❤

My.Daily.Distraction ~ Post 59: A Christmas Car Story

15 Monday Dec 2014

Posted by duckykoren in American Civil War, Automobiles, Battles, Cars, Christmas, Decorating, DIY, Gettysburg, History, Holidays, Nativity, Pennsylvania, Safety

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Automobiles, blogs, Car Safety, Cars, Christmas, Civil War, Decorating, Department Stores, fashion, Gettysburg, Highways, History, Jesus, Nativity, Parking, Pennsylvania, Religion, Safety, Shopping, Silly, Stories, Style, Wise, Writing

It happened one Christmas in Gettysburg.

My husband and I decided to do some Christmas shopping during our visit to this quiet little Pennsylvania town best known for their epic three day American Civil War battle that took place in July 1863.

We pulled into the parking lot of an average mid-sized department store.

We parked directly behind your average mid sized car.

However there was nothing average about this car.

Attached to the roof of this car was a large platform covering the entire length of the vehicle.

Set atop of this car-roof platform was an elaborate nativity scene.

I’ll repeat that:

Set atop of this car-roof platform was an elaborate nativity scene.

It was huge!

The attention to detail was exemplary.

The scene was even complete with artificial snow and a Christmas tree.

I have never seen anything like it.

“Why would someone do this to their car?”

…I asked myself

Then I asked myself:

“How does it stay up there?”

I considered that a valid question as the wise men stood what looked like three feet tall.

Even though everything looked stoically stuck up there, I certainly wouldn’t want to take that show on the road. I’d be in fear for that poor sucker caught behind me getting pelted by the three wise men not to mention Mary, Joseph and the Baby Jesus.

Eventually, I was able to turn my thoughts back to Christmas shopping and we headed inside the store.

Entering the store, I wondered who among these shoppers owns that ridiculous car?

There would be no way to tell who it was.

Certainly, the car owners would look like everyone else…

Then, after we pulled out our buggy and started heading down aisle number one, we caught sight of the owners of said car.

I had no doubt whatsoever that these two people, a man and women owned that Christmas car outside in the parking lot.

How did I know this?

Both of them were wearing almost an exact replica of their car roof ornament on their head by way of incredibly elaborate Christmas hats that towered at least eighteen inches into the air.

Big, larger than life, and unforgettable.
The circumference of each hat appeared to be double that of a Mexican sombrero.

In other words, these hats were pretty flipping big.

Intense even.

Further, I would say that each of these hats were at least eighteen inches in height.

The last time I saw this couple, they were heading towards the hunting and sporting goods aisle…

And they didn’t look happy.

At that point, we decided that we had encountered more than enough Christmas spirit for one day and decided to call it quits on shopping.

And so, if you ever find yourself in or around Gettysburg…

Or anywhere else…

During the Christmas season, keep a wary eye out for these two people and their car.

And should you happen to see them on the highway, please remember to keep a safe distance.

We all know that the three wise men came bearing gifts.

I just don’t want them to become part of your radiator, or have any of the wise men crashing through your front windshield.

Be afraid.

Merry Christmas.

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