I’m a Stephen King fan. I can still remember being in junior high and reading Pet Cemetery. When I would finish for the night, lay the book on the floor next to my bed and get ready to turn off the lights – and I would be freaked out beyond all human comprehension. I could not even glance in the direction of that book with that scary cat on the cover.

On November 21, the newest movie based on a King story is going to his theaters. The Mist opens the day before Thanksgiving, so you should have plenty of time to get your rear end into a theater seat and prepare to be creeped out. I read The Mist by Stephen King years ago and it’s one of the author’s stories that still gives me the chills when I think about the premise.

Being trapped in a situation where there is peril outside the doors can bring out the best and the worst in people. I used to work at a television station and some of us got snowed in during a massive, dangerous blizzard. I got panicky, not being able to leave as I pleased. I felt boxed-in and out of control. Being trapped there for several days showed me which of my coworkers were patient and helpful, and which ones were self serving and irritable. It also showed me who not to stand next to when nobody had showered for a while.

Back to The Mist, though. As a parent, it gave me chills to hear the young bys whisper to his father, “don’t let the monsters get me.” If I had to be trapped like the people in the movie, I would want to be right there with my daughter, so I knew for sure where she was and that I was protecting her to my fullest.

I have written numerous articles in this blog about fatal car accidents in my area of Florida that have involved teen driver, some of them underage. I wrote that I feel the driving age should be raised a little, to compensate for emotional maturity, etc.

A very encouraging article appeared today on the APR wires. It says that according to state transportation data, Florida teens are waiting longer to get licenses. All licenses issues to teens in Florida, only 40% are issued to 16-year-olds. In 1991, this number was 60%.

Teens quoted stated reasons ranging from not seeing what the “big deal” was to feeling leery after seeing friends killed behind the wheel. There is also the fact that Florida now requires teens to start with a learner’s permit for a year before even applying for a regular license; and those under 21 have curfews unless driving to or from work.

The author speculates that higher gas and insurance costs may also be a factor.

I like seeing that some teens are waiting. An individual grows in leaps and bounds during their teens in both physical and mental ways. The difference in wisdom and common sense between a 16-year-old and a 17-year-old is considerable. Take that upper age to a18 and the difference is vast.

I live in a vacation destination; one of the best in the world. Even so, I feel an intense need to get away more than once throughout the year. I’m usually stopped cold once I start trying to figure out booking hotels and cars and mapping out where to eat and what to see. It makes me tired and I end up just hoofing it over to the closest beach and relaxing on our sugar sand. Or, I simply end up at my dad’s house outside of Washington, DC. You don’t have to make many plans when you are visiting family. I know that my friends who maintain memberships to vacation clubs like Buena Viva Exeter have someone helping them with the whole planning process. Maybe that is what I should start doing.

Speaking of sugar sand, which is what we have on our local beaches, my car is still full of it from when we went out to Honeymoon Island with Gigi’s godparents. You’d think I could find a minute to get out there and run the Dyson over the carpets. But no, I just continue to muck around in the sand and it has been a week now.

All of this is to say that I think I need another vacation. I called my dad to see about coming up this winter, but he is taking classes to get back on track so he can work during tax time. Government employees and their second careers, you have to love that. My best bet is to find one of the girls who can take off for a weekend. This gets harder and harder as more of my friends move onto having multiple children. I’ll work it out, though.