Mayberry? No, just Roswell

Most people who read this live within a 5 mile radius of me. But for those few who are a bit farther, I must preface my comments with a little explanation.

As my sister puts it, people in Atlanta are the biggest "panickers". We once had school cancelled because they THOUGHT it was going to snow. It never did.

This week's month's panic involves gasoline. Here in Atlanta we are definately a commuter town. We drive everywhere. But now we have to look at this...photo Mark Humphry AP

There is an issue with pipelines, hurricanes, state emission regulations. Bottom line, shortage=panic. People will wait up to 2 hours and pay premium prices to get gas. The search for gas permeates conversations, facebook status and dreams. It is on the news and the radio, and since CNN is based here, the national news sometimes.

Really, it sucks. It is an uneasy feeling when you live in an area dependent on cars. It is amazing how many things we I have taken for granted.

But, there is a silver lining. Saturday, we took the two young ones and walked for our weekend splurge coffee. Tonight on my way home from my 2nd to last carpool run the sidewalks were full! Families walking up to the grocery store, people on bikes. It almost feels like Mayberry. Rhett takes the train more for his 26 mile commute to work, and has read 3 books!

We are all looking at our travel habits and actually changing. Small steps... all it takes are a few small steps... by a LOT of people.

The inner hippie in me is coming out.