Out The Door

Talk about bloopers. Here I've been, going on about searching for Mr Right, but hello, did I ever put it out there that I'd like to find him?

No, not even close. Which may explain why my flurry of dating has come to naught. And why in all this time, I haven't felt anything remotely related to a zing, except once after being told that a certain married man-about-town had just separated from his wife.

Bingo, I thought, until hearing that the lout had been extra-maritally hooked up for nearly a year. Pshew...there went that spark, right out the door.

Speaking of which, my son, who thinks I don't have a life, has taken to literally pushing me out the door, insisting I let down my hair and have a little fun.

His tactic seems to be working because yesterday morning, at the last moment, I decided to head downstate and tag along with an environmental group that was lobbying at the state capital.

I'd been hesitant to go because it was a 3 1/2 hour ride. But in the end, I was glad I did. I'd never been in Springfield before. The folks I met were pleasant, and the weather delightful.

The best part, however, was when I stopped for gas in some depressed, farming community in the middle of nowhere. Half the town's shops were boarded up. Litter was everywhere. The warning bells and flashing red lights at the main railroad crossing may as well not have been there, considering the way locals ignored the signals and drove willy-nilly across the tracks.

Wow, I suddenly realized, am I ever lucky. I don't have to live here. I don't have to pump gas for a living. I can zip across the state in a car that's all paid for, pretty much whenever I please.

Sure, I'd like to fall madly in love, and even get married again someday. But for now, call it gratitude or counting your blessings, I'm sending a shout-out to good fortune.