Saturday’s road trip had the pioneering feel of the Little House on the Prairie books. Maybe it was the aura of visiting the Burr Oak/Laura Ingalls Wilder site earlier this month. There we were, Ma and Pa, off to market in the buckboard. Okay, it wasn’t a buckboard. It was our 21st century mocha colored VW with a latte interior. We were loaded down with provisions. Well, not really provisions. A cooler with soda and granola bars and apples. Does the bottled water count as provisions? The sun was our guide as we headed southwest. I know, it was really the GPS system/mapquest/google earth that we navigated by. We didn’t want to get lost.
The rattling started as we merged onto Route 66. Well, not really Route 66. The interstate that replaced it. Interstate 55. The rattle was real. As we accelerated, we heard a thumping sound that seemed to come from the rear. Pa pulled over to check those things Pas check when it sounds like the wheels of the buggy are coming off. The wheels, er, tires, were just fine, and off we went again, only to hear the rattling again at about 55 mph. Pa suspected a loose belt, while Ma fretted that her own belt was too tight. A little more horsepower, and the rattling abated.
I didn’t hear the honking horn, nor did I see the driver motioning to Pa and pointing to the roof of our mocha machine. I was surprised when Pa pulled over, emergency lights flashing. “Well, Ma,” says Pa, “that driver was pointing and had his fingers up to his ears like he was trying to tell me something”. Was it a seatbelt hanging out? A walnut hidden for the hard winter by a squirrel? A branch, perhaps, from the grass where we have been parking the car while the tar dries? What in tarnation was it?
Pa poked his head in and said “open the sunroof”. Huh? “Just open the sunroof, Ma”. So, open it I did. A bit of a sound, then Pa’s handsome but sheepish face peaking in.
The rubberized cover of Pa’s iPhone, which had inadvertently been left on the roof of the mochamobile while Pa was loading provisions, had, just barely, gotten stuck in the trim of the sunroof, where it rattled away at the posted speed limit, hanging on for dear life. Did you know that was an iPhone application? *** UPDATE BELOW
Enough excitement for one post. I’ll tell you about our arrival at the 3 French Hens Market and then to the prairie later. In-the-meantime, make sure when you are loading up your buggy for a ride that you leave nothing to chance – not even your iPhone.
*** It was the entire iPhone that was on the roof. The edge of the cover was what saved the phone from oblivion.
This story was a delight to read! So filled with imagination. It showed so clearly the sameness and the difference between Wilder’s time and ours. The truth is that much has changed but much abides.
That thoughts from Tennyson’s “Ulysses.” The actual line is as follows: “Though much is taken, much abides.” It’s a great poem to read and ponder as we age.
Peace.
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Thank you, Dee, and, indeed, much has changed but much abides. Thank you too for the Tennyson reference, which I did look up (isn’t Google wonderful to have at our fingertips?) and will go back to this again when I have some time to ponder.
And to you as well, Peace.
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Hilarious! Quite an image of our times!! It’s something to think that one day your “mocha colored VW” will seem like a buckboard to another generation. But the complexity of travel is still at times just that…complex. We totally relied upon our GPS for an out-of-town experience recently, and it repeatedly bounced around, erratically changing the route…we were lost! Great post…lovely smile for the day. Debra
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Glad to have provided the smile for the day, Debra. We laughed when it was all over.
Our GPS, we call her Gertie, usually gets us where we need to be, but, often enough it is in circles and past just where we just were. Our funniest time was in Concord, MA trying to figure out a roundabout.
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When we (who actually live on the prairie) set out for a road trip, I am often amazed when I think of the pioneers heading west. We have those glowing green signs that tell us of our next direction change and the blue signs that announce the next watering hole/ gas station convenience store. I laughed when I thought about your iphone cover rattling away on your roof. It probably would have fallen on my head when the sunroof opened.
I love your comparison to Ma and Pa Ingalls. Wouldn’t they have been amazed at the convenience and ease of travel?
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I know, you are my prairie gal and I love hearing about all that surrounds you. I’ll write about the prairie we visited in a few days, Janet. I’m amazed at the pioneers who came through as well. Imagining prairie as far as the eye could see and then beyond.
Haha. It was actually the phone on the roof. The cover was just keeping it from becoming a weapon. I updated above, realizing I wasn’t clear on that. We were grateful it didn’t fall off and hit the windshield – ours or someone else’s. Your poor head. Have you thought of wearing a helmut?
Thank you. Ma and Pa Ingalls would, indeed, have been amazed at the ease of travel and the speed.
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My laugh for the morning — this modern-day pioneering can be rough!
And that’s one provision you don’t want to lose/
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It certainly can, Sallie. I wonder how our pioneers survived. Tough stock, I suppose. We take off with GPS, phones, whatever – and then can’t stow them correctly.
We were lucky with the iPhone.
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😀 It is a truly good thing to save an iPhone from almost sure destruction, Penny. Please forwards my warmest congratulations to Pa. I loved the fan belt lines, I have the same concerns about my own…
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I will tell Pa, who will appreciate your congratulations. Well, one has to inject some humor into such serious matters as iPhone and car roofs.
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Thank you for starting my day with a good laugh, Penny. Ma and Pa solve a mystery! I once got perturbed by a strange noise and after several stops found that my wheels had scooped up some cabbage tree leaves (they are long, and as tough as flax) when parked at the bach, and they were whipping along the side of the road with a sound that was like no other. Well, at least you now know the sound of an iPhone caught in a sun roof. You can add that to your life experience!
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I’m so glad you had a good laugh, Juliet, and now you have given me one with your cabbage tree leaves. What a sound that must have made. Ah, I seem to have quite a few of those life experiences, most of them funny, for which I am grateful.
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Great story! Loved the way you, um, revised the text to bring it up to the 21st century. I have that iPhone cover, too. It has saved my phone from many disasters, but this feature is new to me!! My daughter and I call her GPS Greta. Greta Garmin. Greta gets SOME chilly if you don’t do what she says. Thanks for the laugh! ;o)
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Thank you. Those covers must have saved many an iPhone.
Greta Garmin. Wonderfully appropriate name. Garrison Keillor did a funny radio skit about a GPS and trying to find an airport. It was quite humorous. At one point, SHE gets extra testy, Garrison says he wishes he had a man instead, which he gets. HE is even crankier. I laughed aloud when I heard it.
You are welcome.
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[…] Comments « Ma and Pa Take a Ride […]
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Modern problems for a modern Ma and Pa! What a great post Penny and I’m sure you were relieved to know there was nothing wrong with the car – and luckily nothing wrong with the iPhone either! I had a bit of a laugh thinking of the Ingalls ambling along in their wagon with a GPS, silent for days and days on end then suddenly saying “Right turn in 2 miles”!
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Ha! Very funny, Janet. It would take them half a day to go the 2 miles! Wouldn’t it make a great SNL skit?
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