Car Stories

The engine light in my car went on.

At first I thought, "Oh no!" I imagined big trouble and the bill in my mind just kept getting bigger and bigger. I had changed the oil and I thought that maybe I had spaced out on the mileage limit.

So in I went.

I took Lola the Dog with me because I love her this much plus she really likes going for a ride in the car. When I got there I told the guy I might need an oil change. After looking he told me I had at least five thousand more miles to go. "But my engine light is on," I said.

He then said something that changed everything.

"Did you get gas today?" I had. "It's common in these cars that sometimes the gas cap isn't put back on properly and the engine light on the dash  comes on."

He used his whatchamajigger under the steering wheel and reset the light. Lola and I couldn't have been happier.

"What do I owe you?" "Nothing, sir."

Harps began playing and trumpets began blaring.

As I left a thought crossed my mind. When you think something is wrong with your car it's all doom and gloom and you drive in one way. When you find out your car is fine and easily fixed, you drive out like John Wayne.

Since we're talking about my car let's continue...

I've driven my twins to and from school for a while. We live just inside the 'not eligible for the bus' zone and when they were little there wasn't much of a choice.

More on that later.

To tell you the truth it was great to be able to do that for them. And to listen to their conversations from the back seat was wonderful and hilarious.

I used to call them 'The Giggle Boys,' because, when they were younger, they thought that things I wouldn't even think were funny, were funny.

They'd see something or they would hear something on the radio or they'd say something and all of a sudden I'd hear giggles from the back seat. Giggles. Plural.

Mario, Princess Peach and Bowser

Hearing Miles go on and on about UFOs and saying if he just stayed up late enough and kept his eyes peeled he'd see one was so cute. He also knew all there was to know about Mario, Princess Peach and Bowser.

They're characters in just about every Mario video game.

I heard about them almost every day.

Now, the more on that later.

They're thirteen, in seventh grade, and the times they are a changing. Griffin now makes clay figures, paints them, and shoots videos. He has fans on YouTube that he's never met and one of his videos has almost 30,000 views!

That's very cool and I'm a very proud Dad.

Miles takes culinary class and has made me an omelette and a grilled cheese sandwich. He's a great writer, gets great grades, and is a great brother. Miles wants to design video games.

 Today.

He's also handsome, actually they both are.

I'm their father and I might be biased.

They go to school under their own steam now. Griffin on his bike, helmet included, and Miles on his skate board, helmet included. What started as responsibility and a bit of freedom has turned into great exercise for both of them. Now I have in shape kids who play video games.

But every now and then Dad drives them. It's a break in the action.

Plus, I enjoy their company and miss the good old days.

On our way to and from school we play a game in the car and it goes like this.

A mini-van is a fat car 'cause they think it's fat. They point them out on the street. If they see one in the parking lot at the grocery store, Griffin says it stopped to get doughnuts.

I used to have a Jeep. They point them out, as well. They also point out school buses and they point out cars that are the same kind as Grandma's car.

The game is who sees one first.

So as we drive down the street when we see one we point and say, "Fat car...Jeep...school bus...Grandma's car..."

I find myself saying that when I'm in the car.

By myself.





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