The joy is in the journey

When Tim was out of town in Austin, the kids and I walked up to FUS for a "market breakfast" and small Farmers' Market. We walked slowly and deliberately, it was a beautiful, clear late winter morning and we were not on a time schedule. I thought about all of these moments we have had as a family, since ridding ourselves of owning a vehicle, and how if we decide to buy a car it will be one of the things I miss the most. Since we've been car-free, we have not often left the two-mile radius around our home besides the occasional long trip by bus or community car. However, we have come to know intimately the area around our house, and people know us. I have strangers approach me in Whole Foods or at the park, and say they see us walking everywhere and know us as that couple with the yellow Chariot. I love that! I love that we are learning about our community and are making friends as we trot about to our various activities. I love that our kids are seeing an example of deliberate, intentional living. I love that we get to have these amazing moments like today, when we were running home from the Wisconsin Science Festival and we stopped for half an hour at the lakeshore and the kids explored about and threw rocks. If in a car, we would have gone from parking lot to home without the moments in between. We are so, so privileged to live in such an incredible place, and I don't want to miss it all flying past my window while zooming down University Avenue and clogging up this crisp, clean Wisconsin air with yet more pollution.

How glad am I that those mounds of snow are melted! At last!