2. Pull Back 'n Go Santa

The first week in New York, a Canadian friend and I went to the Catskills. We left late at night and my friend drove the rental car straight into a snow storm.
But you can’t blame her for that.
It was the weather.

We stayed in another friend’s beautiful house in the woods. Charlie learned to walk there.

In the grocery store, I decided to buy a small toy for him, to celebrate. But all I could see were snub nose revolvers.
Eventually, I found a Pull Back ‘n Go Santa Head. It’s just what it says it is. It's a small plastic Santa head and if you pull it back, it goes.
Charlie likes it; I love it.

Driving back to the city, we saw what we’d missed in the dark snow-storm drive on the way up. We were quiet and thoughtful. The road looped and curved along a cliff edge.
“I didn’t know the cliff was there,” I said.
“Me neither,” agreed my friend.
We were quiet again.
Eventually, I said, half-laughing: “I can’t remember all these curves in the road. I can only remember driving in a long, straight line.”
My friend said, “I was thinking the same thing.”