And For The Briefest Of Moments...Things Felt "Normal"

You may not be able to tell from this picture, but there was a moment today when life felt almost normal.

Normal...

What an odd word. It wasn't odd before, but it feels odd now.

My wife and I needed to do some shopping. Thankfully, in no small part due to an army of truck drivers, warehouse workers, and grocery store employees, there was stuff for us to buy, food to sustain us for at least another week or two. That, in and of itself, is a miracle.

I wonder if I'll ever not consider a store full of food a miracle ever again.

No, the store was not packed. It was mid-morning, not the height of busy shopping, usually. And yes, some shelves were bare, but hearing horror stories of people's shopping experiences lately, I was glad to see the store had so much stuff. I took a picture from inside the store because at that moment, with us involved in such a normal--even mundane--activity, it felt like stuff we used to do when the world made sense.

I hope I experience more of this feeling of normalcy in the future. My heart hopes for it; my head says it'll probably never happen--returning to the "normal" we once had. In reality, a new day is never the same as the day preceding it. It's always different, just not so different.

I pray for our country and our world. Billions are scared, confused, frustrated, and just plain tired. I also pray for strength to see us through this dark time. God be with us.

The Vape-Mobile...

We see it almost every week as we pick up groceries. We've come to know it as the Vape-Mobile. It's a car, two-tone (but most likely not by choice...). And for whatever reason, when we show up for our weekly trip, we happen to see the car's owner taking a break in the Vape-Mobile.

You can probably guess why we've dubbed the car what we did, so I guess I don't need to go into that. 

It's interesting to me how a car, maybe more than anything, can help define a person, at least, that's how we think about it in our own minds. How else would you convince a normally rational person to pay tens of thousands of dollars for much more of a vehicle than they need? Billions of dollars in advertising has made us believe that we are an extension of our cars, or better yet, they're an extension of us.

We really couldn't be more wrong. Sure, a car can say something about a person. A truck usually means the owner has a need for the abilities of the truck--construction worker, someone who needs to tow things, or maybe they just like to see above all the traffic. I've never really understood why a person would need to buy a car that can hit 200 m.p.h., other than the thrill of knowing it can be done.

I drive a car that has no hubcaps and the driver's-side door is a different color than the rest of the car. For a while it bugged me that it wasn't nicer (or not two-toned...). But, when I really think about it, it's been a fantastic car. It's been reliable and economical. And I really like it.

I've wondered if the owner of the Vape-Mobile likes his car. I'm sure he like the fact that it allows him to get to and from work, play, or wherever else he wants to go. Yes, a car can say a lot about a person, or it can say almost nothing.