Saving Gas

The local news is running this single line:  "Gas $8 a gallon."  I've never seen the story, but just the headline terrifies me.  Can you imagine $150 to fill the tank?   Even at $4 a gallon, the cost of filling the tank chokes me every time.  So, I've decided to do something for my budget and the environment all at once.  

Three/four weeks ago, I began walking La Nina to school twice a week.  Her school is about a mile and a half from our house and it takes almost thirty minutes one way to reach her class.  Round trip for me it's about an hour commitment compared to twenty minutes if I jump in the car.   Some days it's impossible to walk, but when we can now, we put on our sneakers and hit the sidewalks.  

It's taken some experimentation to fall into our routine.  Since we began our new tradtion, we've adjusted the time we leave the house, our lunch routine and the route we take.  The Magster is a complication because when she's with me, she makes the two way trip.  She's not bad on the trip to school, but once we leave her sister, the Magster's is so dramatic you'd think she was in the twenty-sixth mile of a marathon.  It got so bad last week, I actually pulled out the stroller.  It's been a decent solution.  She rides the whole way home, but at least she's quiet.

Here's the biggest shocker:  La Nina asks to walk to school every day.  I think she likes the quiet time we have together when we walk.  I find we have these marvelous little conversations while we're walking that we don't have in the car, and I'm more relaxed on the days we walk.  

So, while I may be saving a few bucks on gas, I'm gaining something far more valuable:  true quality time with the girls.