View from the Cab: Road Memories

Does anyone take Sunday drives anymore?

We hopped in the car on a recent Sunday afternoon to snap some pictures of Kasen a few miles away for his upcoming birthday. The timber provided the perfect backdrop for his “jungle” party theme. Nothing beats cruising up and down the peaceful country roads of southern Livingston County during the weekend. This actually brought back memories of my own childhood.

I recall those Sunday drives of years ago when our family would get in the car and just drive for miles. We would go past the timber to see if any deer were standing out in the nearby fields or check on the neighbor’s harvest progress. The conversations in the car were priceless. We were making new family memories one ride at a time. I especially treasure those memories now since several loved ones have passed on. What I wouldn’t give for another car ride with my mom, grandma and great-grandma after a big Sunday dinner of roast beef with all the trimmings.

There weren’t any smart phones back then and as a kid, I couldn’t bury my face in gaming apps because they hadn’t been invented yet. I guess there were bag phones and giant cell phones, but you couldn’t log into Facebook from the main screen. I don’t think we even had the radio turned on for those rides.

Maybe my New Year’s resolution for 2019 will be to introduce my family to Sunday drives. Kasen, Kenadee and our new baby would be able to experience the excitement I did with my parents back in the day. We’ll have to be sure to hit the Dairy Queen drive-thru for an ice cream treat because it is tradition you know.

I’ll be the first to admit that sometimes I get upset when I get behind someone driving slow through the countryside, but it is important to take our time and enjoy the scenery around us. Maybe the person driving only 30 or 40 miles per hour is taking a Sunday drive with their family trying to make new memories.

We’ve had plenty of time for country drives lately as rainfall and early morning freezing temperatures in the past two weeks pretty much brought the soybean harvest to a halt. We finally got going again last Tuesday evening as a decent weather window opened up. Let’s hope that lasts through the end of October.

(The View from the Cab blog is powered each week by Petersen Motors of Fairbury)