The Long Haul

Superstition is all about trying to control something you have no control over.   Saying, “you spoke too soon” is a good example, as if by simply saying something about a situation you sway power over the outcome.   And yet it’s something we do all the time.

I don’t believe in superstition per se, but it is a cloying idea.   For our trip to the solar eclipse totality zone I had low expectations we’d come out unscathed with long a long ride there or home with traffic.   And I complained about the possibility of traffic to many people both prior to and during the trip.    And then we were almost home.

We were beyond the major traffic routes and had charged without wait at the last major charging spot and I had a conversation with my mother about how we made it clear without traffic to speak of.   And then it happened: a tractor trailer went off the embankment right before us, causing us to sit on the road for over five hours delaying our arrival home until 5:30AM.  

My husband was stoic and drove the entire time (he prefers to drive) and the children sleeping through the night.   We made it eventually and I know nothing I said influenced the trip in any way, but it still is something your mind jumps to, even though we possess no control at all over.

The Big Boy Update:  My son asked multiple times on the trip for me to rub very hard (“harder mom”) in a very specific spot in his lower back.   The same spot I have pain in when my SI joint is misaligned. I took him to the chiropractor this morning and he said as we walked in, “I am so not ready for this” which is interesting, because he’s liked going the few times he’s gone before.   Right after the doctor adjusted him (his SI was apparently torqued a lot) my son said, “actually, that feels a lot better”.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  My daughter was able to experience the solar eclipse in a questionable way.   We protected her eyes with the eclipse glasses but I don’t think she could see the sun through them because she typically wouldn’t look in the direction of the sun when she used them.   But she could experience the total darkness of the full eclipse.    When the sun came back out she danced around though saying, “I can see you again, favorite sun!”

The Tiny Girl Chronicles: