Early this morning we said farewell to a member of the family fleet.  We bought this used Audi A6 when Claire was in high school.  She wanted something cooler to drive than the family mini-van or M.J.’s dented Camry. But fourteen years later (and probably close to 150,000 miles–the odometer broke some time ago) the “cool” car was giving us a good deal of grief.

In the past when the car was having troubles we’d take it to a guy named Mike who wore a leather do-rag and had a penchant for fast cars. He’d tinker with the Audi just enough to keep it going, though he could never get the “check engine” light to stay off for long. Which wasn’t a problem until Will drove it to get his driver’s license and the DMV refused to let him take his test because the light was still on. We had assured him that wouldn’t be a problem.  I’m not sure we’ve been forgiven yet.

The Audi was primarily the kids’ car and took all three of them to early morning seminary, school, sports practices, proms and even honeymoons. When they left it became M.J.’s commute car–fine for short drives to catch the casual carpool but without heat or air conditioning not all that fun to spend time in.  With our move up into the foggy hills it became more crucial to reliably defrost the windows. But Mike’s shop had moved to a less convenient location and even if he had been close by, the heating and air conditioning repairs would have been more than the car was worth.  A few months ago the electrical system started to fail so we couldn’t lock the doors or gas tank and in the last few weeks the car alarm started to go off erratically. So we made the hard decision to let her go.

Before the tow truck sent by the Red Cross took her away, M.J. laid his hands on the hood and thanked the Audi one last time for carrying all that precious cargo all these years.   And me, well I’ve spent the day feeling a little bereft about the empty parking space at the end of the driveway.

Here are a few other things that carried me through this week.

Mirror, mirror on the (exterior) walls–I could see myself in this reflective house.

Ideas for fireplaces and, of interest to me now, attractive firewood stacking.

Some thoughts on cooking mindfully.

Beautiful images of Vienna, where I studied abroad in the winter of 1978.

Tom Hanks on his two years at my local community college.

Local Idaho boy makes good–this kid’s from my home town!

New Yorker cartoons in response to Charlie Hebdo.

Common and John Legend perform the Golden Globe winning “Glory.”

I’m just back from a long weekend in Miami where I enjoyed the surf and sun and wondered what this world is coming to.  Everywhere I looked people were ignoring the lovely sites around them and glued to their smartphones.  Perhaps they’re just better at multi-tasking than me, but it seems that if you can’t sit on a beautiful beach and gaze out at the ocean, enjoy al fresco dining with friends or meditate in the spa without constantly checking your twitter feed you’re missing out on a whole lot of good stuff.  It was enough to make me  want to tell you all to put down your phones RIGHT NOW and go take a walk, but then I calmed down (channeling my own unplugged surf and spa experiences) and pulled together some of the things I read in print this week that fostered a greater appreciation for the big wide world beyond my smartphone screen, including:

1.  A nostalgia-inducing essay about packing away your children’s picturebooks.

2. This lovely obituary for E.L. Konigsburg–one of my own favorite childhood authors.

3. John McPhee’s antidote for writer’s block.

4. Chef Gabrielle Hamilton’s road trip to track down great home cooks.

It just so happens that next week is Screen Free Week where parents are encouraged to unplug their households in order to spend more time with their families.  Even without young kids at home, it could be useful to “mindfully” use technology next week. Who knows what you’ll see when you look up.

Happy Weekend!