Anything Can Be Fun

On Wednesday, Thing One, Thing Two and I, were ready to set out for Summer Adventure No. 57: fruit picking.

Under sunny blue skies, we packed our picnic, chose a rendevouz point with our friends, mapped our route, filled our station wagon with petrol and away we went. It was a scene that could have been ripped from a 1950s Good Housekeeping issue, except (a) I wasn't wearing a skirt, (b) the boys had chocolate on their faces, and (c) our station wagon [or estate, depending on what language you speak] does not have wooden cladding, nor is it American made.

All was going swimmingly as we sped down the highway until I heard clunk-clunk-clunk. "Oh," I thought. "That must be the car next to me," as I turned up the soundtrack to "Cars." As my friend in front sped up, I had the distinct feeling that our car, who we affectionately call Gazerbeam for its GB country sticker on the back, wasn't keeping up. Finally, disaster: we lost power, I couldn't downshift and lights starting blinking ominously on the dashboard. Luckily, I was able to get us over to the shoulder.

"Well boys, I've got some bad news and some good news," I told them after I had called my friend to say we wouldn't be joining her after all, and then the Automobile Association to come tow us away. "The bad news is we won't be fruit picking today. The good news is we can have a car picnic! Hooray!!"

"Gazerbeam is sad," observed Thing Two. "Poor Gazerbeam is tired," added Thing One.

So while we waited an hour for the AA to come rescue us, we ate our lunch, consoled ourselves with chocolate chip cookies (which always make me feel better), planned Thing One's 7th birthday party and listened to the "Cars" soundtrack some more.

After our tow truck driver left us in the warm embrace of our usual mechanic, he handed me the receipt for the tow. "Ah, yes," I said. "Good times!"

And while I have to say it wasn't the absolute best time we had all summer, it wasn't the worst time either, thus proving the maxim: Anything Can Be Fun.