G'bye Friend

Heroes come in odd packages sometimes.

I'm going to turn my cable off on Tuesday, and I usually complain (to myself or to anyone who will listen) that there are so many channels but so little is on tv worth spending some of your lifetime watching.  Last night the Olympics were on again.  I didn't watch it.  The beginning of the 2012 NFL preseason was on.  I only watched that for a couple of minutes.  What I did watch was the movie "Hitchcock", with Will Smith and Charlize Theron.

This is the third or fourth time I've seen it, although to be honest I don't think I've seen it from start to end yet.  I seem to tune into it somewhere near the beginning, but I still don't know how it starts.  No matter.

For some reason, I like this movie.  It had only 2 stars on my cable guide and I'm not quite sure what they're (whoever "they" are) basing that on, but it's 4 stars in my book.  It's not a hero kind of movie, but he's my kind of hero.  Maybe...an anti hero.  Regardless, I expect I'll see it again.  And again.

These have actually been a fascinating couple of days.  Nothing I can put my finger on.  But now that I'm winding down  the emotion of what's happening in my world is starting to seep in.  I think one of the reasons I keep myself as busy as I do is because there's so much to get done and only me to do it, but also because it helps keep my mind busy.  I'm a fairly emotional person but it can become debilitating if I let it.  So, I mostly don't.

Part of what's driving it all home, I think, is that I sold my car today.  I've had it since 2004 and we've criss-crossed this country together a number of times.  Most recently I drove her out here from Phoenix in February, the last day being the 1,200+ mile marathon all the way from Dallas.  I daresay that she seemed to take the effects of the road better than I did.  But the point is that we have history together so saying "good-bye" to her is letting go of something that has been part of my world for a long time.

I realize that people have lots of bad experiences on Craigslist, but today I met some wonderful folks.  One was a student who brought her boyfriend and was on the phone with her dad as they inspected and drove the car.  She was truly thrilled at the thought of owning her.  Another was a woman recently separated from her husband raising their child who needs to borrow other peoples' cars to get back and forth to work.  We took the car to her mechanic for him to look over and got to know each other a bit.  I could go on...

Anyway, at this time tomorrow she'll be gone - starting her new life with someone who will take care of her and appreciate her the way she deserves.  For the better part of 150,000 miles and seven years, she has been a good friend.  G'bye friend, and happy journeys!

Little by little - letting go.  Of stuff.  Of plans.  Of debris.  I suppose that's one of the results of this effort to simplify that has become part of life these days.