Topless

June 1, 2021

Memorial Day I got Melissa out of the house for the first time since she came home.  I guess technically that is not true.  She came outside while I was weeding out front several days ago to see her succulents and we took a short walk through our cul-de-sac yesterday.  That strikes me as more along the line of what happened during the pandemic when people would poke their heads outside and then run back indoors.  Today was a real trip.  Although we did not have a specific destination, we were able to drive through the Boston Mountains and enjoy the scenery.  And we went topless.

When I say topless, I do not mean without shirts.  The Wrangler has a three-section roof that allows you to either take the two sections off the front seats or remove the entire roof.  In fact, you can not only take off the top, but you can also take off the doors.  Sadly, we have owned the vehicle for three years and this is the first time we went topless, and we have yet to remove the doors.  I had noticed how easy it could have been to remove the top.  It was held on with pins that slid through holes and eight levers that locked the roof in place.  I found being easy does not necessarily correlate to doing something.

It was supposed to rain in the afternoon so rather than putting the roof sections in the cool cover that was provided at purchase, I just put down the rear seats and laid the two sections in the back so I could bring them along, just in case.  After our topless drive north, we decided it was time to head home.  We had planning on cooking my (famous?) ribs and they need four hours to slow cook.  I had also seen the rains might be coming in around three.  We headed home and sure enough, the sprinkles started right on time.  Being topless in the rain was not something I was looking forward to.  We were only a few miles from home and the storms were coming from the west and we were traveling southeast.  I made the calculated decision to drive on.  Thankfully, it worked.

Thoughts:  Driving topless in the Jeep is just as fun as driving with the top down in the Benz.  You get the wind in your hair and the sun on you head.  After we got home, I realized while we had been driving topless, I had gotten a sun burn.  While this was not a first, it was the first for the summer and this seemed appropriate on the unofficial start of summer.   It was a little cold to go topless yesterday, but since Melissa had suggested it, I followed through.  We were sprinkled on, and I got sunburned.  Then I had to put the top back on once we got home.  Even though going topless was easy, it did not come without risks, still we both thought it was worth it.  Being easy does not necessarily correlate into doing something.  It was easy to wear a mask during the height of the pandemic just as it is now easy to get fully vaccinated.  Apparently, some think the risk of getting sick is better than doing what is best for others.  Follow the science.  Change is coming and it starts with you.