Thinking Out Loud #10: The Holidays

“A lovely thing about Christmas is that it’s compulsory, like a thunderstorm, and we all go through it together.”
― Garrison Keillor, Leaving Home

I recently took a road trip up to North Carolina. If you follow me on Instagram, then you know that it was quite a shitshow that ended — quite literally — in flames.

Basically, I was riding around and sleeping in an RV-type-thing with a misaligned axel. I’m not a mechanic — I may be wrong about the specifics. However, from what I understand, the wheel (the metal part, not the rubber tire) was someone bent (or misaligned) inwards. This increased the amount of friction between the wheel and the axel, and ultimately, fire was summoned directly from the depths of hell.

We were flagged down by a medium-sized SUV packed with country folk. Seven sets of arms sticking from six windows.

“Is that for us?” Asked my fiancée.

“Nahhh, they’re just doing that.” I don’t know what I meant by that. But ultimately, she was correct. It was indeed for us.

As soon as we pulled over, the folk disappeared into their magical vehicle and we were left alone. Not really alone, the highway was pretty busy. But it was the same ‘alone’ that you feel when you’re a single person living in a busy city.

Cars aggressively whizzed by as my partner anxiously smoked a cigarette, leaning against the highway’s guardrails.

Eventually, we managed to solve the issue, but it was not done without plenty of stress.

The overall trip was fun. We went to a ski resort, and I learned that Julie (my fiancée) is an avid skier. How did I not know this? The more I reflect, the more I am able to see that there is still much to learn about my lovely to-be bride.

I’ve spent the vast majority of my life in Florida. As you probably already know, Florida is an extremely flat state. The tallest point is actually a hill, as opposed to a mountain.

I’ve seen snow maybe three times in my life. Because of this, anything having to do with snow excites me. After Julie and I visited the ski resort, I immediately became infatuated with the sport.

I was browsing skiing gear just prior to writing this piece.

We plan on taking a skiing trip to Aspen, Colorado. I’ve been there once before, and it was beautiful. I didn’t stay at any cabins, but it was my first time visiting a ski resort in my adulthood and I had a wonderful time.

I’ll keep you all updated on our plans within this series.

Since this is now the 10th episode, I will be making a post to serve as a directory for all of these articles.

I’m also going to be working on an “About Me” post. I have mixed feelings about this, as I already write about myself in nearly every post. Feel free to let me know if you guys like this idea.

Additionally, I will be making some holiday-themed posts. Expect to see these in the near future.

As always, thanks for reading my TOL series. I have a great time making these posts, and I hope you guys enjoy reading them.

Until next time.