And whenever we brought home a baby, I always forgot how much sleep I didn't get with a newborn in the house. That's a big one. Yesterday I was reminded of another thing I forgot...
The traffic in Davis County, Utah.
Yesterday, we traveled south to watch my daughter and her fiancee participate in a dance recital. They had a busy afternoon planned, dance at one venue, then they scheduled another dance in a different venue less than ten miles away. We watched the first, then jumped into our cars to make the second. We had to hurry because the second event had already started. No worries--it's just down the road.
Wrong.
I forgot on weekends tens of thousands of cars, trucks, semis, motorcycles descend upon the roads. I forgot that at any moment a crash can occur on the interstate and tie up all roads going north/south for hours. I forgot this because for the past two-plus years, this is something that's never entered my mind, something I never think about, something that doesn't exist where we live.
With the freeway a parking lot, we tried other roads. Turns out they were parking lots, too, slowly inching along, all in effort to get to where they wanted to go.
An hour later, we pulled up to Destination #2, an hour to drive just under ten miles. We were lucky...my daughter's car took an hour and a half and we left at the same time.
Living in a place with few people is not for everyone--I completely understand. And those who want to live in the center of the action put up with traffic as just part of the price of living where they want. The traffic eventually thins out--it's just when you must be somewhere on time, it's maddening.
I'm grateful to have a life where I don't necessarily need to be surrounded by millions of others. I'm grateful to be living at a slower pace. Sure, there are sacrifices, but there's sacrifices wherever you choose to live. Yesterday I forgot what it was like to live where we did. In time, I'll probably forget again.
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