To Dad's

Set off for Dad's at 2 pm yesterday and thought about treatments for the wreckage of the future. Mom is in Westlake Village and Dad is just outside of Paso Robles, so this is about a 3 hour drive. Both cats peed on themselves as soon as I got them into their carriers and Cruiser got a bit hysterical and panted and drooled, which is bad, and both cried the entire way, although their cries got quieter after about an hour. So, I set off for a 3 hour drive after an exhausting week, with a fraction of my life packed in a small car and two crying cats in small carriers and the whole car smells like pee.

The "wreckage of the future" is my friend's phrase for our fear and worry about what we imagine will happen in the future. Most of what we fear in the present is like this, fear of something we imagine will happen but has not happened yet and probably will not. So, for example, as I set off on my drive I worry, what if I get in an accident? what if I get a flat tire? what if the car breaks down? what if my cat has a heart attack and dies on the way? what if the cat gets out and jumps out the window? what if I fall asleep at the wheel? what if one of the gas canisters on that truck in front of me flies off and hits my windshield? This is not a good way to spend 3 hours, so I tried to think about treatments I learned for getting out of fear, or preoccupation with the wreckage of the future.

The best treatment is to stay in the present, which on my drive would mean finding some Zen of safe driving. I am not that enlightened, so I could only achieve this for random moments. It helps to prevent too much preoccupation with the wreckage of the future by making sure you are not hungry, angry, tired, or lonely. I was only half of these, tired and hungry, so I could have prepared better, but I didn't, so, oh well, in another 3 hours I can eat and sleep all I want. So, I am left thinking about the simplest treatment, short term goals, one hour to Santa Barbara, which I want to get through before 3 pm when traffic starts getting bad, another 30 minutes to Buellton, another 30 minutes to Santa Maria, less than another hour to San Luis Obispo, and then another half hour to Dad's.

After 3 1/2 hours I arrived safely at my Dad's with 2 living cats and that drive is now in the past. It was a beautiful drive and a perfect Southern California day.