Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Carless in Dallas: There's No Way to Avoid the Wetness


#citykids

The adventure of going carless began pleasantly enough today. To catch up those of you who are new here (judging by this blog's pageview report, that would be all of you), yesterday my mechanic told me our only family car is dead. So, starting this morning, we are traveling by foot, moped, or DART.

It was warm and a little humid when I set off on foot to drop Nigel off at his daycare, just half a mile away. He was in a stroller, I was in jeans and a t-shirt.

I think I'm going to like that part of being carless, just me and the Nige (one of his many nicknames) walking the streets of Deep Ellum, looking for cool things like a weird rock, something painted a primary color or a birdie. He points them all out to me as we pass.

When I got home, Julie pointed out how sweaty I was. I had a set of imposing pit stains. Turns out, though, that it wouldn't be the only time I'd be wet today.

#soaked
Later on at work, our bosses planned a sort of staff field trip to a nearby watering hole to plan an upcoming issue of the Observer. As I hopped on my moped to go to the meeting, I noticed some dark clouds overhead, and halfway there, I was pelted with big, stinging raindrops.

"Our bathroom has some of those hand dryers," said the lady behind the bar when I walked in. I found the men's room and peeled the soaking denim shirt off, running it under the hand dryer for about five minutes. It was a waste of time.

Two hours later, with a cold, wet shirt clinging to me, it looked like the meeting was winding down as my coworkers went for their third and fourth rounds. I noticed a break in the storm. That's when I made my move.

Only a few minutes into the trip, the storm came on strong again. The rain sprayed, stinging my face and arms, and by the time I got home I was completely saturated. Drenched. Soaked. Cold.

Thankfully, when I got home, there was a hot shower waiting for me. Somewhere else in Dallas, someone was caught up in the same storm and didn't have the same luxury as me. With that in mind, I look back at today as a success. A giant step into a simpler life.

Tomorrow, Julie takes the DART Rail to work for the first time, and I'll have another sweaty shirt before 9 a.m.

1 comment:

  1. the morning school/daycare walks are good. just wait until nigel starts riding a bike. the day my two started riding bikes it changed our journey immensely. i also got a bike with a carrier on the back and this helps. i am thinking though, that the tx heat will discourage much of your motivation. stand strong and pray that dart gets updated railcars with a/c.

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