Tuesday, March 01, 2011

Taking the Road Less Traveled



Romantic Times Review!

Born at Midnight
C.C. Hunter 4 ½ Stars

Great for fans of Vampire Academy. This book has it all, from vampires to werewolves to witches and shapeshifters. There’s romance and action, ensuring readers won’t want to put it down. Hunter – Christie Craig in her YA debut – packs on the twists and turns, and then leaves you hanging with an amazing hook ending, just wanting for more.




Taking the Road Less Traveled



Have you ever suddenly decided to try a new path—veer away from the norm, try something different and call it an adventure? Have you ever realized you might be in a bit of a rut? For those of you who know me, you know I’m a big advocate of trying new paths. But if you really know me, you know that I’m dyslexic and I’m . . . helplessly directionally impaired. And if there’s one thing I’m good at, it’s getting lost.

Let me make myself clear. I’m not talking paths as in life decisions. I’m talking paths as in roads, or sidewalks as this case is. Not “lost” as in what you want to do in life, but lost as in…Where the hell am I . . . and haven’t I already seen that dead thing once? (Don’t worry, I’ll explain the dead thing in a minute.)

Now, not everyone who is directionally impaired, or challenged, is dyslexic. Some people are just easily turned around. And if I find myself out and about with a person who is like this…Well, we’re pretty much crap out of luck. And that’s what happened the other day.

Me and my friend, another writer, (whom I shall leave unnamed) walk for about an hour, five times a week. Now, here’s the part you might find hard to believe. We walk in our neighborhood—our neighborhood where I’ve lived for eighteen years and she’s lived for only thirty.

On our designated mornings, we brave the outdoors. Each morning, we take the same path. I mean, we’re so busy chatting about writing that we seldom even notice our surroundings.

This particular morning, I had a beauty appointment to get my eyebrows waxed, so we headed out early. I would have an hour after my walk to clean up, before running out to have hot wax placed on my unruly eyebrows and yanked off. (Hey, my beautician does a better job and it’s less torture than plucking.)

Anyway, it must have been something about the change of time that inspired the need for another change. “Let’s try a new path,” she said. Yeah, it was HER idea. Not that I didn’t go along with it. It was a beautiful, sunny day.

However, I must have had a premonition, because I told her, “If we get lost, we can call it an adventure.”

“Right,” she said and grinned. How likely was it that we could get lost in our neighborhood?

Very likely, as it turned out. We were twenty minutes into our walk when she said… “I don’t have a clue where we are.”

“We can always knock on someone’s door and ask for directions,” I said laughing. “We can lie and say we just moved here.”

Now, at a good forty minutes into our walk, at which point we should be heading back to our houses, we find ourselves back on the main street of our subdivision. We’re proud of ourselves. We ventured off our normal path and probably added a good ten minutes to our walking time. With confidence, we headed home. We walked. And walked. The beautiful day started feeling too warm. Sweat dripped from my brow.

One of us stated that our adventure had taken us farther into our subdivision that we’d thought. But we kept moving like little troopers. “As long as I’m not late for my brow waxing,” I said, jokingly.

We passed something on the sidewalk. Something that wasn’t breathing, and appeared to have gotten acquainted with the bumper of someone’s car. “What was that?” I asked.

“Don’t know,” she said, “But I’m pretty sure it had fur.”

“Oh, I saw the fur, I’m talking about the organ outside the fur? Liver?” Grimacing, we kept walking. And walking. It wasn’t just my in-need-of-a-waxing brow sweating now. My clothes were soaked.

“Wouldn’t it be funny if we were walking the wrong way?” she said.

“Yeah, that would be funny.” Doubt etched into my voice.

She heard it. “I know we’re going the right way,” she said. “I pass that green house all the time.”

“I’m sure we’re almost there” I said agreeing. Onward we go. And go.

Finally, she spoke up, “If we get to the end of this street and see the grocery store that is at the opposite end of our subdivision, I’m calling my husband to pick us up.” She hesitated. “Or I would if either of us had a phone or if either of us had a quarter.” We chuckled. And then all the sudden we saw it. The grocery store. We had walked the wrong way…for miles. Faced with the harsh reality of our mistake, we did the only thing we could…we laughed some more.

“We could always ask someone to borrow a quarter,” she suggested.

I stared at her sweaty, tired appearance, and I knew I looked worse. “They’d probably offer to drive us to a shelter,” I told her. “And we might have to explain how we got lost in our own subdivision.”

We started back. When we got to the dead object with its exposed liver, we decided it was a squirrel. And we also decided that it hadn’t died in a hit and run, but had met its fate trying to find its way home. By the time we got back, we’d walked a little over two hours, and I was about fifteen minutes late getting my brow waxed.

“Traffic?” my beautician asked, knowing it’s not like me to be late.

“Nah,” I told her. “Just . . . got caught up in an adventure.”

So do you ever get lost? Get turned around? Have you ever seen a squirrel’s liver? Do you wax or pluck your eyebrows?

19 comments:

Terri Osburn said...

They even build neighborhoods bigger in Texas? Sounds like you got enough walking in that day, you could take the rest of the week off.

I rarely get lost, which means when I do, I get really mad. It's not pretty. I'm all for taking a different road. Sometimes I have to backtrack if it doesn't lead where I thought it would, but even then, I know more than I did before I took that turn.

Congrats on the review!

Sandy said...

LOL My hubby always takes the opposite direction from what I tell him, and he's right. Does that tell you anything, CC?

Michele L. said...

My girlfriend and I were coming home just this last Sunday from South Bend after seeing the Lord of the Dance in concert. We wanted to take Highway 20 instead of the Toll Road. Well, somehow we wound up on Highway 31 going into Michigan. We stopped and asked for directions and wound up just taking the Toll Road home. Ha,ha! We decided to take the tried and true route. We don't know where we went wrong. Wow! Lot's of W's there!

Happy March 1st everyone!

Loretta Wheeler said...

Oh lord, don't get me started. Even the GPS can't help me half the time. (How often do they update those things? Mine invariably takes me to parts unknown at least once a month.)
I've always been nervous about new paths, or three hour tours. Things just don't have a way of working out every once in awhile. I've learned to pack food and water, along with a google map, GPS, AND the cell phone. I figure between all of that I at least have a "hope" of survival:)
I've seen a dead squirrel, but the dead possumut (possum) is the best story. Saw something even more alarming once, but that belongs in a horror story. We'll leave that for another time.
I pluck my eyebrows, and cut my own hair. I don't like adventure's in hair removal...I'm afraid the "dark side" would come out if someone took me down a wild path in that area!:)
Congratulations on the review Christie!! I'm sure it's just the first of MANY:)Some new path's are simply meant to be:)
Lo

Francyne said...

Sure I've been on an adventure via the highways. Once took the George Washington Bridge 3 times because I couldn't find the highway north from there. But, generally, I can find my way with a map. I have a friend who is/was a hopeless case (wonder who that is?) and used to call me for directions. "Put your back to their front door, then turn right at the end of their driveway."

Christie Craig said...

Hi Terri,

Yup, everything is bigger in Texas. I wish I'd been born here, so I might have made the five foot mark. LOL.

You seem like the type who never gets lost. I'm hanging close to you next conference. LOL.

Thanks for stopping in.

Christie Craig said...

Sandy,

My husband knows better than to even ask me. LOL. But hey...it was an adventure.

CC

Christie Craig said...

Michele,

Oh, man, I've been there. Lost with a friend isn't too bad though. I have this one friend who is like me, directionally impaired, and the only time we didn't arrive somewhere was when we were going to a funeral.

Thanks for stopping in.

CC

Christie Craig said...

Loretta,

You are too funny. We could have some real zingers of adventures if we got lost together.

And hair removal adventures aren't so great. LOL.

CC

Tiffinie Helmer said...

I can get lost on an island. I'm dyslexic, too, but never thought of getting lost as one of the perks. Makes perfect sense since I can never tell my right from my left.

As for seeing dead things, I grew up in Alaska. Many dead things I've seen. The biggest was a moose my school bus hit. Still can't decide what looked worse, the bus or the moose. Both were dead.

Christie Craig said...

Francyne,

You are one of the few people who actually drew me maps or gave me directions to and from a place. LOL.

Love ya girl.

CC

Christie Craig said...

Tiffinie,

LOL. I can imagine the bus didn't look too good. Those moose can be big creatures. LOL.

And yup, most, but not all, dyslexics are directionally impaired. I'm hopeless.

Thanks for stopping by.

CC

Brandy said...

I have no confidence in my mapping skills so any time I need to be somewhere I've never been before I ask my husband for directions. OR I've even been known to have him drive me by there a day or two before so I know how to get there. Yes, I am sad. But, I don't trust GPS. I DO trust my hubs. *G*

Christie Craig said...

Oh, Brandy,

I get hubby to ride with me while I drive it...several times, before I have to go somewhere that I'm not sure about.

I know exactly what you mean. And the GPS doesn't work for me, because I can't listen to directions and drive at the same time. The same way I can't take notes and listen.

Thanks for stopping in.

CC

Terri Osburn said...

Well, the next one is NYC and I make no promises. LOL! I've already decided to stick to my roommate who seems to have a knack for maneuvering public transportation.

Man Candy Fans said...

Oh, this really hit home. Last Saturday, my mom assurred me she knew how to get to Killeen where we traveled for my daughter's wedding. But first, she insisted on stopping at a Tea Restaurant for lunch in a tiny town. The owners of the Tea Shop graciously gave Mama directions. Bad directions. How bad? Let's just say that a 3 hour drive turned into 6 hours. Sigh. Like Christie, I don't need any help getting lost. :-)

Anonymous said...

I always get. I think I was born lost.

And congrats on the RT review. Fabulous!!!

Heather MacAllister said...

I have no sense of direction. I used to give my visiting editors "Lost in Houston with Heather" certificates. Three years ago, I couldn't find Hobby Airport and I've lived in Houston since high school.

Stacey Joy Netzel said...

First--awesome review! Congrats. I used to get lost a lot more than I do now. Course, I went a lot more places than I do now. I've never seen the liver of a squirrel and never want to--they're too cute. Last, nope, I don't wax or pluck my brows. LOL