The scenic route, not so scenic latley

 Usually when I drive home from work and take the scenic route there is always something that catches my attention. I don't often take this route because I want to get home. I can ask myself the same question over and over but I can not give myself an answer. Get home to what? laundry? dishes? yard work? puppies and kitties? I do try and get home to let the pups out but taking  ten extra minutes after work to drive through town really isn't going to matter to the pups. They are always at the door eager to greet me.

 I like to ride through town, there is a little park with a fountain and there are always people there sitting talking, kids playing. It's nice to see that. I usually see folks riding their bikes or walking down the street pushing a stroller, hometown USA. Main street is lined with old buildings most of them are antique stores. I remember back in 19..er.. back in the day ( I am not giving my age away) there was a five and dime store with a little diner where you could get ice cream. I loved going in there with my mom. Sadly it burned down after it became an antique store. I knew I should have bought that mirror I had my eye on before it turned into dust.

 The coffee shop usually has folks sitting outside reading, sipping coffee or talking. Its nice to drive through and just absorb all the past and present. It is a get a way from the daily news feed I get via twitter that somehow recently makes me think how lucky I am to live here.

 My usual drive through the other day brought little satisfaction. I'm sure the heat and humidity had a lot to do with it. I even drove home with air on. I tried rolling down the windows but hot air blowing in my face isn't really a good way to de stress.  The park was empty even the fountain wasn't pumping its usually display of colored water. Not even a candy wrapper blowing in the wind. Ghost park. Main street was the same. There were cars lined up and down the one way street but I didn't see anyone walking or shopping. Were they inside in the cool air watching me? Zombie apocalypse?

 I decided to drive through the old neighborhood where I used to hang out. Homes for sale, homes in desperate need of repair. No kids outside playing. I pulled over and turned on some MP3 music to get me the rest of the way home. My last peaceful glimpse was of the church steeple rising up above  the trees. I pulled over to take a picture but the humidity kept fogging up my camera and I did not want to take a photo through the windshield. I made it home to the barking pleading faces of my puppies. I did a stop, drop and roll and let them jump on me and greet me in their usual fashion.

 I think I may need to wait a bit, when the weather starts to cool folks will come out of their air conditioned caves and then I will be writing about the fall and and sweet breezes. Until then I'm going to sit in my own air conditioned cave and do what I do.