Something in the Way She Moooooves (or doesn't)

I do not listen to him every day, but I have been known to go through a James Taylor phase about once a year. It lasts anywhere from 2 to 4 weeks, and I play his 2-CD live album non-stop.

When my kids are in the car, I always forget that Sweet Baby James starts one of his songs, “Damn, this traffic jam!” It’s actually a great song, the following lines being, “How I hate to be late. Hurts my motor to go so slow. When I get home my supper’ll be cold. Damn, this traffic jam!”

My children look at me with their “Mom, that’s a bad word” look on their faces. I want to say something like, “Yeah, but isn’t that EXACTLY how it feels when you’re stuck in bumper to bumper nonsense?” I don’t say that, of course, because I want them to choose better ways to express real frustration.

Yesterday, I skipped church. Noah, Mia and I decided to visit with Diana in the hospital instead. She has been really struggling, her blood levels sinking to scary lows, and confined to her bed most of the time. She loves my children and they love her back, so hooky somehow seemed right.

On our way into Center City, we encountered serious traffic. We turned on the radio to see how bad the situation was and learned that besides the fact that the Eagles and Phillies played at home yesterday, there was a concert by The Who at the Spectrum and a special event at the Philadelphia Zoo. To make things more complicated, there were two accidents in the east bound lanes and a large 5K race on Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. At moments, we were at a dead stand still.

We did make it to the hospital, took Diana her laundry and a bag of Munchos for the Phillies game later, and eventually started home. As we left the hospital, we were dismayed to encounter complete congestion in the west bound lanes. This time, however, the radio offered no reason – just the fact that there was no escape. We watched the minutes tick by, sang some songs, told stories, and crept down the highway. After traveling about 6 miles at a snail’s pace, I looked ahead and saw the cars starting to move. I told Noah to watch the shoulder to see what the hold up was, and here is what we saw:

Thankfully, we had Diana’s camera so we could record the GIANT cow on the highway. No accident, no runners, no sporting event – just a gaper delay as cars slowed to see the huge bovine.

Yeah, that's it. Do something out of the ordinary and endure the frustration today just to assure someone that, "You've Got A Friend."