Driver's Ed.

As I told you last time, Whit is taking driver's ed for the next couple of weeks. We are driving to Bloomington for her classes, about 35 minutes away from home. We're in Bloomington a lot for shopping and sports stuff so it's not like a foreign country or anything. Her classroom bit is for 2 and a half hours every day and the driving part adds on two more hours every other day. Tuesday was classroom only, so I had to amuse myself for a couple of hours. Not much is open at 8:00am, other than Starbucks, so I sat in there and sketched for an hour, then I went to Hobby Lobby and then the bookstore - my 3 favorite places - but I did not enjoy myself at all..I was overcome by thoughts of my impending obsolescence. This model of time killing would not work eleven more times. Yesterday was her first driving day, so Mommy had FOUR AND A HALF HOURS to fill.

I graduated from Indiana University in 1989 and have since taken a few classes there. This summer Courtney is doing IU Track Club. It's for kids from 4 to 18 and they work out at the IU track - super nice just like I would expect from a Big Ten school - and get coaching on their events from IU athletes and area high school coaches. That's 4 nights a week for an hour and a half. I have been parking at the track and taking walks down Fee Lane and through the arboretum. Yesterday, after dropping Whit off, I decided to walk off some of my anxiety and take a full walking tour of my Alma mater. I put in about 5 miles on the landscaped paths shaded by hundred year old trees. That place is beautiful and quiet this time of year. I saw few people - the summer school students, high school kids on campus for some kind of camp, tiny shriveled professors carrying briefcases equal to their own weight. I crossed Indiana ave - going officially off campus to check out the store hours for Pygmalion's Art Supply - the only real art store in town. They don't open until 9:00. I 'll go back another day. It's a mom and pop joint with a cat or two sleeping on the counter and every kind of art thing you could ever want. Back on campus, I passed the Sample gates, the law school, geology, biology, music - all those places I knew in a former life. They still looked the same. The speed at which time moves is relative - very slowly for limestone buildings with Gothic arches and very quickly for daughters who can't possibly be old enough to drive a car.

I had to take Court back up for Track Club last night and put in a few more miles - about 10 total for the day. It's my new way to cope - exhaust myself.