FUN in my 20s

FUN IN MY 20s

My twenties were fraught. That is probably true of just about everyone. We’re right at the beginning of taking on this big shindig called Life. There are no instruction booklets and fun and danger seem to lie behind every door. For "door," read action, decision, question. For me, what turned into a touchstone was my car. If I didn’t know what to do, I took a drive. If I wanted to do something, I’d go fill up the car. Living this part of my life in strange surroundings, I often got lost. Being a reader of terrains, I’d manage to find my way down to the water and thus back to known territory. After a while, I began to realize I got lost and ended up at the same place more than once. So, the next time it happened, instead of trying to find my way back, I just kept going straight ahead. Whoops! Now here I was on a "no exit" freeway heading out of town. Well, by the time I got somewhere I recognized, I was about twenty miles east of town. So, I turned around and came back, wending my way through the necessary turns and intersections to arrive at my part of town. The lesson I learned that time was to pack my swimsuit and a lunch.

Now you understand why, when I wanted something to do, I’d go fill up my car. Just for the fun of it!

Frieda Kirk, longtime Washington resident, continues to entertain us with this piece, done in response to Ariele’s request for FUN stories to go into her anthology of those.

SHARING STORIES is a weekly column for and about the 50 plus crowd living in the Puget Sound region. Send your stories and photos to ariele@comcast.net. Tell local or personal stories; discuss concerns around aging and other issues; share solutions, good luck, and reasons to celebrate; poems are fine too. Pieces may be edited or excerpted. We reserve the right to select among pieces. Photos are always a plus and a one-sentence bio is requested (where you live, maybe age or career, retired status, etc.).

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