Derek & I just returned from a trip to Wally World, where he made a purchase with HIS money & I bought Natural Skippy Peanut Butter with mine. Before that we went to Rachel's surprise birthday party, held at the home of her friend Kyndall. She was truly surprised. She couldn't believe I had known for weeks, & that even Derek knew!
As we left the party, I checked my phone messages. Every week after Nextel Cup qualifying, I get four text messages, telling me the top 5 positions & where my favorite drivers will start the race. Then after the race (in case I don't see it) I get messages about where they finished. I was sad tonight. I got three messages, because Sterling's not in this one. He's done well over the years. He can afford to retire, if he wants to, after this.
This may be as good a time as any for me to retire - from the life of a NASCAR fan. I have often joked that NASCAR kept me from being "too flake-y." I'm sort of a liberal. I would love to live a more environmentally kind lifestyle. I am not an "earth-first, people-second" person by any means. As a Christian, I believe in worshipping the Creator, not the creation. However, I don't believe God intended for every square inch of the Earth He created to be covered in strip malls & McMansions. I think we Americans, and probably a whole lot of other nations as well, are far too greedy for our own good. Having dominion over the earth is a huge responsibility. The earth was given to us for our use, not our abuse.
Auto racing is most likely the worst possible sport for the environment, but I grew up watching races & have always loved them. I knew the time would come when Sterling would retire. I just didn't think things would get to this point. It's all about money in NASCAR. Maybe it always was, but not to the extent it is now. I simply don't care as much about it as I used to. There, I said it. Is it because of the environment? No, not really. But would it be so bad if I DID become a tree-hugger?
I am one of those extremely oil-dependent Americans. I have mentioned before that where we live is between our jobs & our kids' schools, between his family & mine, & 6 miles from the nearest grocery store - nowhere near public transportation. It's just a given that we're gonna be driving a lot. Changing jobs wouldn't help - we don't have career options closer to home. Moving closer to our jobs means uprooting the kids from their schools - not good when you have a 10th grader. Moving closer to school means moving further from work.
And that brings me to work. On tomorrow's blog, answers to some riddles I have been putting on the blog.
No comments:
Post a Comment