Driving and Singing :)

Driving and singing, something I do not do because first: my parents would murder me if I ever drove without a license, (that is, if I don’t crash before they find out I’m driving), and second: because apparently singing at the top of my lungs in a moving car is distracting to the driver. But, that is exactly what Janisse and her brother, Dell, would do with their family after supper some days! The whole concept of willingly going into a car to drive around town is foreign to me. Maybe that’s because neither of my parents are from anywhere near Georgia and I was raised differently, or maybe because I get awfully carsick if I am in a car too long... either way I don't really enjoy driving in cars (but I do love to sing, even if im not very good at it:) ). 

In the book Ecology of a Cracker Childhood by Janisse Ray,  Janisse mentions getting into the cars in the junkyard behind her home with her brother and pretending to drive off to faraway places like Canada or Europe. They would travel the world through their imagination! That is something my brother and I never had the need to do. My mother is from Spain, and my father is from Minnesota, so as you may infer, we traveled (and still do). A lot. Instead of imagining ourselves traveling the world, my brother and I would gather up whatever old/interesting things we could find and make cool traveling kits and gadgets to keep us busy on the plane to and from wherever we were going. We never used those gadgets or kits, (maybe once or twice when the Nintendo battery died), but my mother still keeps a box of them somewhere in our house in case my brother and I want them.

    My experiences and my ecosystem have formed me into the person I am today. I am proud of where I come from and I honestly wouldn’t change it for the world! Reading her book, I don’t think Janisse Ray would either. :)