Change Is Hard

…but change is certain.

How to smash a whole lot of stuff into one weekend.

18 Comments

I’m retired, so one day is pretty much like another. Weekends have no real significance, and Monday is now my favorite day of the week because most of you go back to work and I don’t have to.

Welcome to the 2018 Woodward Dream Cruise!

I know. That’s just cruel.

But then again sometimes weekends are filled with so many fun things that I actually am sorry to see them end. Like this past one.

It started out with me volunteering on a campaign for a woman who is running for Congress in my district. Our district has been represented in Congress by one party for as far back as I can remember. This year there’s a serious contender, a woman with military experience, who has worked for the Pentagon and was willing to sit with my husband and I for over an hour discussing truck safety issues.

It’s unique.

She’s got my vote.

So, though I am not political and have never worked on a campaign before, Saturday morning found me sitting in a small stuffy room with several other people my age, all of us peering through our bifocals at our laptops as a young campaign worker explained the data entry project we volunteered to help with.

Good to have a matching umbrella to ward off the sun.

She was so patient with us as we fumbled through connecting to their WiFi, stumbled over the password, then tried to understand the data entry program. Never once did she roll her eyes, though I have to admit I did at least once.

Lots of color and detail.

Turns out she had just graduated from high school, and was taking a gap year before she went to college just to work on this campaign. Amazing. She was nineteen and had the ability to make us not feel stupid when we asked questions as we worked through the huge pile of reports filed with information from volunteers out canvasing neighborhoods.

It wasn’t restricted to just cars.

Her enthusiasm was contagious and we willingly worked past the time we originally committed to get the job done.

And to reward myself for sitting in that small room straining my eyes for hours I took myself to the Woodward Dream Cruise that was happening in a town not so far away.

There was plenty for sale if you caught the car bug.

If you’re asking what that is, well, you’re not from around here.

In the old days, on Friday and Saturday nights the locals would drive their muscle cars up and down Woodward Avenue, through and between several towns. These days, for one weekend every August, people come from all over the country, some bringing their antique muscle cars, to do the same.

Muscle from the old days.

The streets are lined with people who enjoy watching the beautiful cars go by. Parking lots are filled with more of the vehicles.

Lots of money in this lot next door to the Porsche dealership.

They’re everywhere.

Back in the neighborhood a few blocks away from the main drag.

I fell in love with this pair of vehicles.

There’s a sort of elegance that most cars today lack. I guess we’re more functional and less stylish these days.

I enjoyed wandering around, though I walked less than one mile down Woodward Avenue, and spent maybe an hour there. I loved taking pictures of old cars, the lines so beautiful, the colors so vibrant.

Hard to miss this one!

Anyway. That was Saturday. Sunday a college friend and I went kayaking at my favorite park.

Spending Sunday morning on a lake. Perfect.

We rented kayaks there, for only $8 an hour. We told the (very) young lady there we’d be out for an hour at most, after all we were old. She smiled politely.

Pretty.

We were out for 2 hours and I’m not even sore this morning. Pretty good for a couple of old broads!

Two hours later the skies began to cloud.

And I slept out in the backyard in the tent all weekend too, getting geared up to take at least one camping trip this summer…before summer slides away!

Katie says she hasn’t gone on one camping trip all summer. She says that’s unacceptable. I have to agree.

Stay tuned.

These looked fun too, maybe next time!

Author: dawnkinster

I'm a long time banker having worked in banks since the age of 17. I took a break when I turned 50 and went back to school. I graduated right when the economy took a turn for the worst and after a year of library work found myself unemployed. I was lucky that my previous bank employer wanted me back. So here I am again, a long time banker. Change is hard.

18 thoughts on “How to smash a whole lot of stuff into one weekend.

  1. Our bigger, but still not big, town down the road a piece has a similar thing the end of June each year. It’s a week long affair, with the “kruise” being held on the last day. Our little town nearer by usually has a mini-cruise on the 4th of July.
    And I agree with Katie – she really deserves at least one outing before the weather no longer permits them.

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  2. Wonderful cars Dawn! And great views on the water!

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  3. “Monday is now my favorite day of the week because most of you go back to work and I don’t have to.” Yes!! I laughed out loud. Couldn’t have said it better. 🙂 Great car photos. Great weekend. Love your description of that young thing giving you computer instruction … that made me chuckle too. Great post. More please.

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  4. So much to enjoy about this post, Dawn. Sounds like you had a fabulous weekend — love those old cars and the photos of the water!

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  5. What a colorful, fun post! Love the fact that you’ve shared cars in motion, not just lined up for review. It’s a great post.

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  6. Back when cars were colorful, I can recall drooling over some of the colors…you almost got a photo of a 57 or 58 Chevy…up here in Minnesota that was the car to have:) Now a Days all the cars look alike and they are earthy colors or red…mine is red:)

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  7. Sounds like you had a great weekend! It’s odd how sometimes not much is happening…and other times it’s the opposite. Gotta love summer, right?

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  8. I went tent camping this summer but I also bought a new to me travel trailer. I had hoped to get out one weekend in it but it will go into storage for the winter next weekend. I hope to be retired next summer and I want to take a trip out west. The kayaking sure looks like fun. I want to try that too.

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    • Oh Helen! How exciting about the travel trailer! I’ve been thinking it would be nice to have one, could camp further into the fall and earlier in the spring…plus it’s getting harder and harder for me to get up in the morning from so low to the ground! And I’ve always wanted to take a travel trailer out west. I follow several women’s blogs about their travels out there. It looks so different than where I live (in Michigan) and I’d love to spend some months (or years) exploring there!

      You’d love kayaking, I’m sure! It’s turning into one of my favorite ways to be out on water.

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  9. You have totally failed at retirement. Retirement is where you park yourself in a Laz-y-Boy and veg for the next 15 years. Fail. Fail. Fail.
    HALLELUJAH!!!! Long live the mavericks of the world.

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