northern

I live in a fairly small community - 14,000. It's marketed as a retirement community, so there's a higher than average percentage of seniors. It's the kind of place that people leave when they finish high school, and IF they come back, it's to raise their own kids.

It's also quite isolated. It's a two hour drive to the nearest bigger place.

I've spent the last nine or ten years hibernating. Recovering. Trying to find some balance. It's still a struggle, but most days are better than they've been in a long time.

But I'm stuck in a little place with nothing to do and no one to do it with.

I know it may seem strange that I would drive seven hours to Toronto to spend four hours with some folks from SG at karaoke, and then turn around and drive seven hours back home. Believe me, I really do know that that seems insane.

Back when I was relatively healthy mentally, I used to get in the car and drive. I'd pick a place on the map and go there. No reason. It might be Cleveland, Ohio, or Wheeling, West Virginia, or Washington, DC.

Just because. (Well, okay, there are a lot of attractions in DC).

But I loved the drive.

Many years ago, I signed up at a driveaway service. It's for people who spend the winter in places like Florida and want their own car while they're there, but need someone else to get the car there.

Most people sign up to drive a car to a specific place because it's a cheap way of getting there. They asked where I wanted to go. I said Florida. Where in Florida? I didn't care.

They got me a car that needed to go to Miami Beach. So I spent two and half days driving there. I had a great time. You listen to music. You drive on relatively empty highways. It's actually very very relaxing.

Almost meditative.

So, seriously, although it may sound insane for me to drive a total of fourteen hours for a four hour event, trust me, it's actually helping me improve my sanity.