Sunday Afternoons

With dinner eaten and dishes washed and put away, we piled in the car and headed out.  Out to way was at Dad's discretion and we were always surprised.  Sometimes it was a trip to Uncle Owen and Aunt Ruth's (not our aunt or uncle at all, but so close you wouldn't know the difference) or maybe down to Higgins Mill, Pine Mountain, High Falls or over to Jackson Lake.  Just a ride to see what the rest of the world was doing and how it was progressing.  

Most of the time it was pretty boring for me and Sis.  When Sis was bored she wouldn't look out the window so  she always got carsick and she would get in the front with Mom and Dad which left me sitting in the back all alone.  Normally I would just lay down and take a good nap or watch the passing clouds out the back window.  When we weren't bored, we would watch for "Beetles", white horses or make a game out of tag numbers. 

The first two or three numbers on the old old tags were the county of registration.  Sis and I use to try to guess the counties the cars were from.  The killer strip (old highway 41) was the best place to play the tag game as cars from up north travelled this route to get to Florida.  An old two lane blacktop with no passing lanes, old highway 41 claimed more lives than the DOT would like to admit.  It is a shame that interstates are not conducive to Sunday afternoon rides as we would really rack up with the tags on those vehicles.

In the fall, our Sunday afternoon would takes us to the North Georgia mountains for an afternoon of ohing and ahing as we witnessed the spenldor of the colors of the changing leaves.  It seems to have gotten later in the year when this change takes place and doesn't seem as prolific as it once was, but so many of the old hardwoods have been cut out and replaced with pines or hemlocks. 

My Dad was and is a firm believer of Sunday as a day of rest.  On Sunday, we went to church, ate dinner, and rested - period.  There was no work on Sundays, that is until he became a dairy farmer and all that changed. No more Sunday afternoon rides, vacations, or holidays, but those cows provided a decent living for me and my family.  He stood be his guns on non-essential work - burning limbs or leaves, cutting grass and nobody in our little family went shopping on a Sunday even after he became a dairy farmer - that was considered non-essential.

In our hurry scurry world, we sometimes get behind some blasted Sunday afternoon drivers that are not in a hurry at all and I feel a pang of envy.  Wouldn't it be nice just to roll the windows down and drive real slow along some country road and smell the earth, the trees and the animals and not be in a hurry to get anyplace at all.  It is so relaxing and restfull, which is why Dad enjoyed those rides so much.  It was an escape from work, chores, and daily living.  A speck of peace in a hurried world.

Yes, today is a perfect day for such an unhurried ride.  The winds is lightly blowing, the air is fresh after a good nights rain and a peaceful rest is just what we all need.  A time to gather strength, rest our bodies and calm our minds.  

I hope you find a special way to enjoy your Sunday afternoon.  Until next time,

Happy Reading!
Belle