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Therapy: Rubber on Asphalt

Sometimes late at night when little girls should be sleeping and dads
should be doing household chores, Hailey and I put on just enough
clothes to be in public, load into the car, and go for a drive.

We open up the moon roof and let the stares shine in. The hum of the
tires on asphalt provide a soothing backdrop to the saxophones,
trumpets, and snare drums of KUT’s nighttime programming.

Sometimes the drive is short. We only make it around the
block. Sometimes we go as far as the post office. A few times we have
needed to get on the highway. We leave full of angst and
frustration. We return mellow, calm, and peaceful, with one of us
asleep.

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The Cleaner

Hailey may be picking up my habits. Today at day care she picked up
something on the floor and carried it to the trashcan saying “trash”
along the way.

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Indoor Easter Egg Hunt

A bit of bizarre April weather for Austin resulted in Hailey’s first
Easter Egg hunt being held indoors. Hailey did quite well at finding
Easter eggs. However, once she had two eggs, one for each hand, she
would only find the other eggs. She would’nt put the eggs into her
Easter basket. She preferred to keep one egg in each
hand.

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Eensy Bitsy Spider

The eensy weensy spider
Climbed up the waterspout
Down came the rain
And washed the spider out

Out came the sun
And dried up all the rain
And the eensy weensy spider
Climbed up the spout again

Sometimes children learn to do things without your help or
knowledge. While reading Hailey her nursery rhyme book she started to
do the hand movements. A few days later she was stomping her foot in
tune.

[videojs_video url=/wp-content/uploads/2004/04/hdj-eensy-bitsy-spider-20040404.mp4]

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My First Car

At 3,200 RPM with the pedal pushed completely to the floor the
speedometer needle could almost say hello to 70 MPH. Dust particles
would flow through the air vents. The hood would lift at the rear;
straining the latch and threatening to open. The roar of the engine
matched the wind noise and blocked all other sounds.

Emblems, chrome, and covers were removed. The once blue metallic paint
had been replaced by a mixture of light and dark gray primer, Bondo,
and fiberglass. The interior complimented the sparse exterior. There
were no sun visors, door skins or a center console. Those were deemed
unnecessary and removed. Two well worn bucket seats, their upholstery
disintegrated from age, covered with itchy tweed-like seat covers to
keep the foam in place, accommodated the driver and passenger. The
smell of oil and exhaust regularly filled the cabin.

The temperamental car would occasionally refuse to return to life and
leave its occupants stranded, but it offered a new found freedom
capable of masking any downside.

Circa June 1989. The [vehicle in question][1].

[1]:http://images.google.com/images?q=1972+Toyota+Celica+ST&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en&btnG=Google+Search