Carting About

How thoughtful of my friends to rent a golf cart so I wouldn't have to walk long stretches and tire out! At first it was a lark, sitting like a lady of leisure in the open air buggy and whizzing about freely, no concerns about going so far that I wouldn't have the energy to get back.

We took a tour of the community the first day there, driving the perimeter so I could get a sense of direction (which I never did quite grasp), and a bit of the history as we drove through original sections and newer sections. My hosts pointed out the auditorium, the movie theater, the hotel where lectures might be held, the museum, the shuffleboard and tennis courts, the beach, and of course, Main Street where the Farmer's Market is and all the quaint shops and restaurants.

After a day of riding about, I felt silly to realize that we were driving only three blocks or so from cottage to movie theater or auditorium. Given the heat though, I was most grateful not to be walking, but sitting under the shade of the golf cart awning with a little breeze blowing past my face instead of sweating along walking in the sun.

Gradually, the impact of golf cart mentality hit home. Carting enriches the pace of life. One does not speed along a mile a minute, oblivious of all that passes your window. Neither does one crawl along at a snail's pace, tiring with every step. Rather, one glides smoothly along fully exposed to the open air, noticing all the details of the passing landscape, cordially greeting people you pass and inhaling the delightful scents of roses and lilies and grilling foods nearby.

Carting is a gracious way to slow the hectic hurry-scurry of the workaday world. It bespeaks leisure activity, summer relaxedness, a pampered lifestyle. There is a shared amicability about a community that indulges in cart transportation. I could get used to this being carted about like some queen whose feet ought not to touch the ground. Mostly though, I appreciate and fully embrace a week of not thinking about how I will get places, just relaxing and relying on others to oversee that part of the activities. All of life should be like that.