My new sensible pickup, good on gas, no frills good for carrying dogs

  June 28, 2008 – My new Toyota Tacoma, the symbolic, at least end, to the Lightning Period in my Bedlam Farm life, in which a lightning strike several weeks ago damaged my car, TV, clothes dryer, computer equipment, telephones, and altered my life for awhile, sending me rushing off to malls, hauling junk out, trying to repair my car, and finally, today, reaching the end of a period in which I spent most of my time on the phone seeking passwords, ID’s and someone who would talk to me.
  I have a new cell phone, a flat screen TV, new appliances, and now, a small and sensible pickup truck, inaugurating a new and more sensible period of my life. There are few frills on this truck, apart from power windows and a single disk CD player. No sun roof, seat warmers, V-8 engine, car phone, leather seats.
  I did get a four-door truck, and will one day get a Cap on the bed, so I can haul dog crates and camera equipment in there. I like this truck, it feels  like me. I like car salesmen and Izzy and I had a good time gabbing with them in Glens Falls, N.Y.
  Lots of worse things happen to people than a lightning strike, but this one was destructive and it seemed to usher in a period of turmoil and chaos, from a dying sheep to a gun battle involving a rooster, and a four-wheeler collision with a deer. My friends caution me that this is all reflective of too much turbulence in my head, and in my life. So I will listen to my friends and slow down insofar as is possible, although they are always telling me that and I never seem to do it.
  Lightning strikes, like other intrusions, make  you consider and value your life, especially once it is restored.
 Tonight, I am heading to a play, and soon, my daughter Emma will be here for a longish visit, and we will go to movies and watch Yankees games together, and that will be neat.
  This weekend, I want to write more about fear. Nasty storms are expected especially tomorrow and I will be vigilant. It is hot and sticky. Winston is crowing like a fool, and I can’t say I miss Winston Jr. all that much.
  A couple of people e-mailed me that I must have been angry to shoot  him, and maybe that is so, but I don’t generally get angry at animals for acting out of instinct. He did what rooster, and wasn’t acting out of malice, but what roosters do wasn’t acceptable to me.
  Anyway, this is the end of the Lightning Era, and I am grateful for the new things, for the help I got from Annie in putting the house together, Paula in helping to deal with insurance and other problems, Maria for her great friendship, and the Toyota Corp. for making a sensible car and giving me a great deal.
   I love getting a new car, an identify thing, and this time, I might have got the right one. I look forward so much to hauling things around,  running around upstate New York taking photos, visiting Hospice families, and living my life. How lucky I am to be able to write that.