Still Us

It has been an interesting experience seeing people's reactions to our life choice to live without a car.  Here are two of the most common reactions.

Reaction #1:  "That is the coolest thing I've heard in a long time...(slight pause)...but what are you going to do when it rains?"
I really like talking to these people about this.  They seem really open to different experiences, and though they are not making the same choices as our family, don't make me feel like some crazy lady who says that she likes to eat worms for breakfast.  They are often curious and want to know what motivated us and how we get to the grocery store and just our general experience riding bikes for transportation.  It is refreshing and fun to tell them about our journey.  But inevitably the question comes up, "What are you going to do when it rains?"

Now we are not in the rainy season in our part of the country yet so I really don't know how it is going to work. But lets suffice it to say that in our little neck of the woods, it does not rain that much, and it never snows.  Our weather is nothing like Portland, Oregon, the biking for transportation capital of the country.  Or anything like the person I was reading about today who doesn't own a car in, get this, Minneapolis, Minnesota.  The Artist (my husband) estimates that if we owned a car for the rain we would only need to dive it about 30 days a year.  I can not answer people about the rain, because I have not lived it yet.  But I think as in all the challenges that we have been faced with so far, we will figure it out when we have to.  Do you think a bright orange poncho would look good with my hair?

Reaction #2 -- Stun silence followed by a stammered question like, "But you still want a car, don't you?"
This reaction is the hardest for me.  It is not that I am trying to shock people by not having a car, nor are we as a family, opposed to owning a car, nor am I going to start chanting on street corners that the end of the world is near and everyone needs to give up their cars.

Our choice, and it is very much a choice, to not have a car was made because it allowed us to remain who we have always been as a family.  Sure, we are adjusting to the lack of convenience and luxury that a car gave us.  Sure, there are times when I'm tired and really don't want to get back on my bike to go to get milk for dinner.  But, at the essence of who we are as a family, choosing this life choice has given us the freedom to continue doing the things we love and being who we are.   I still get to knit and teach and help my kids at school.  The Artist still gets to paint and draw and create.  The Big Guy and Little Guy still get to be with us a large part of their days.  Much of who we are as a family would have had to change if we had chosen to get a nicer car (which is what we plan to do, since the Artist is done with cars that he has to worry about every time we go on the freeway.  Our last car had this annoying tendency to decelerate as you were pushing down on the accelerator while trying to merge into traffic on the highway.)  And so, I am not going back to work, and we are riding our bikes for a time, and thanks for asking, but we are not looking for a car right now.

On a side note: Thanks to all who have asked about the pain in my legs.  I am feeling much better in the legs, but now I feel like I have a bruised bottom.  Really looking forward to that going away.