Every once in a while I am forced to ponder whether my honor student offspring will actually contribute or harm the existing gene pool. Yesterday was one of those days. Upon picking up my youngest child from her driving lesson, the instructor hopped out of the car and calmly recounted youngest child's close encounter with an 18 wheeler. "It was a good thing I grabbed the wheel," was all he could say. Then he went on to describe the rest of the day: " She only ran off the road a couple of times. I wouldn't have a problem riding with her if I were you." Thanks dude.
Later in the evening, eldest child came home from a trip to see the Dead Sea Scrolls . She went with a friend--who's father happens to be a history teacher. Silly me thought that she might grasp this opportunity to actually learn something. Nope.
When she returned home I asked her what she saw.
" A bunch of books written in a language that I do not understand," she replied.
I inquired further. "What was the name of the exhibit you saw?"
She said, " I don't know."
I ventured on. " What city did you go to?"
And she replied, " I have no clue."
I was determined to salvage at least one memory from the day. I wanted her to describe at least one nuggest of wisdom that she had picked up from her field trip. So I asked, "What was the best part of the day?"
"Hanes Mall, Mom. We stopped off at Hanes Mall. That was fun," she said.
I just hung my head and sighed.
Perhaps this morning was not the day to go onto the Blue Ridge Parkway--ya know, with the high wind advisorys and all. But, I literally threw caution to the wind and drove to the Thunder Hill Overlook. The clouds were hovering over Flat Top Mountain in the distance. I was nearly blown away and was forced to brace myself against my Jeep to get this shot. I decided to retreat when my Jeep starting groaning from the pressure of the wind.