50 Days of Remembering 50 years Day #10

Road Rage, I mean Road Rally

A month before we were married, we participated in our first road rally. This was a driving contest where you were given clues and had to find various landmarks in a certain order and time. 

Now keep in mind that this was a time before cell phones and even local internet. Because each team started at different intervals, it wasn't who got there first that won. It was who kept the correct speed limit, went to the correct places, wrote down the right answers and finished with the closest correct mileage. From the start we were scratching our heads. The instructions told us to go so many kilometers. Ugh. We didn't know the accurate calculation to convert miles to kilometers. 

There was not a lot of time to stop and calculate and then to figure out where the clues were leading you. You had to fill in the blanks on the form with answers of what you thought they led you to. It was fun, challenging and exasperating all at once. Because of the anxiety we ended up being short with each other and there was arguing in tense moments, so much so that we briefly wondered if we would go through with our wedding the next month!

We didn't win. But this was a pre-cursor to our road trips (pre-map quest days), when I was the navigator and he was the driver. Those who navigate know how hard it is to read a map and road signs at the same time. The driver just expects the directions to be fed to them immediately. The driver is anxious because of traffic and paying attention to lane changes. My driver throws a fit should he take a wrong turn and have to detour. I think a good percentage of our disagreements have been trying to get somewhere. (Though isn't that life--traveling together seeing where life takes us). 

And yet...we have since done other road rallies and have sought them out. I guess we like the thrill of the hunt and trying to work together. They are kind of like a treasure hunt. There really aren't many around. 

Later we were introduced to a similar treasure hunt hobby called Letter Boxing. I started to write about that here, but I was getting so wordy, that I will save that for tomorrow.

Our last scavenger hunt was a contest run by the Norfolk Historical Society. You were given a couple of weeks to discover certain landmarks in Norfolk, CT. Since George grew up there, he was intrigued by this challenge. Armed with the clues, we set about different parts of Norfolk trying to decipher where the clues would take us. Some were very easy, however two eluded us. One was right under our noses on the town green! What was most aggravating for one clue was we assumed the answer was up Haystack Mountain. We had been up there a few times before with kids, but now we were older and I was so out of shape. I was truly afraid I was going to have a heart attack (note: that may not have been far from the truth as a few years later, I did). The part that was most aggravating is that was not where the answer was and we went there for nothing!

But the good news is we won! Our prize was this framed original limited reproduction by Michaela Murphy of a glass plate negative by Marie H. Kendall ca. 1880. It's entitled, "The Farmyard". We have it proudly hanging in our living room.

When I turned 70, my son gave me a clue which took me on a scavenger hunt to more and more clues until I got the prize. He gets me!

One little irritant I have about our road trips, if we are going past something that looks interesting and I don't see it soon enough, George will rarely turn around to check it out. Of course, if we had a schedule to meet, that would be one thing, but even in a leisurely ride, there is something in his DNA that makes him abhor going back.

I love the autumn, and I always try to find one day to drive around looking at all the beautiful scenery and stopping to take pictures. It sometimes requires turning back. I don't take George on my annual autumn drive. 

Somehow, we have stayed married almost 50 years despite the road "rage" which goes on in the car at times. People think road rage only happens with other drivers--not always the case. 

"Pray that the Lord your God will tell us where we should go and what we should do." Jeremiah 42:3

For my 70th birthday, my son made me a scavenger hunt where I had to drive places to find clues to get to the prize. 

Controlling Road Rage at a Coffee House

Last week we finally got to hear Mad River Crossing perform. They have played in so many places around the area and I've always been intrigued. Well, I finally found out what they were all about. They are so relaxed on stage and yet professional. You can tell they've been working together for a while. We really enjoyed their singing and the accompaniments. The three women harmonize so well together. It was a treat to finally hear them.
I will mention that it was a coffee house fund raiser in an auditorium. At first it was distracting because this same auditorium held several memories of my childhood--one of them traumatizing--well, now that I can look back, it's funny, but not then! After I got over the various memories that kept returning to me of that place, I was able to enjoy the music.
After the first break some new people sat behind us. Now I knew a lot of people in the audience and so I had to contain my reaction. Yes, being a coffee house there is talking during the performances, but most of the people either stayed near the back when they were talking or talked in softer voices. The two women behind me were not talking in soft voices and I wanted to turn around and give them that, "you're bothering me glare", but I was afraid they would be someone that I knew. I tried to take a quick glance but I turned too quickly because I didn't get that good a look.
Well, near the end Mad River Crossing sang a beautiful a capella rendition of the "Battle Hymn of the Republic"--you could hear a pin drop--except for the woman behind me. No, she was not talking at least, but she was humming! Grrrrr. Well, at least one cannot hum too loudly.
When it was over I was able to stand up and get a good look--I had never seen them before in my life. If only I had known, I could have given them my disgusted look during the program.
Okay, I know this is all inappropriate behavior on my part. I need to be tolerant of others. They weren't really being rude, although I learned that they were getting airline tickets for $84 and going on vacation, etc, when I would have rather just enjoyed the music. It's funny how we react to situations. I heard once in regards to road rage, pretend that's your mother in the car annoying you. Would you react that way to her? Good point. I was going to be much more considerate to someone I knew than to a stranger. I guess it's love your neighbor unless they are talking too loudly, cutting you off in traffic or blowing their leaves onto your lawn. Put it all in prospective--what does it matter? These moments are just whispers of time in our years here that will fade away into the unremembered past--unless of course, you write about them in a blog, that makes the fading away take a little longer, but it's great therapy.