We lead pretty good lives, so there isn’t much to lament. In fact, I often think that if a Genie were to appear offering me the chance to magically change anything in my past, I’d have to politely decline the invitation (politely, because it’s never a good idea to piss-off an all-powerful Genie).

After all, everything in my past leads to this present, which I happen to think is pretty great. If I made different choices along the way, I wouldn’t be where I am today. And who’s to say that would be better? I happen to think it probably wouldn’t be.

None of that, however, prevented me from gritting my teeth in regret at having traded in our old Audi as I tried to navigate our Jeep through the crazy winding roads that took us from Silver City, NM, to Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument.

Every hand-over-hand turn screamed for an automobile with tighter cornering and better downshifting ability. I knew I was overtaxing the Jeep’s abilities when I started to smell burning breaks. With great sadness, I had to ease back on the throttle.

Meantime, our iPod random shuffle kept selecting classical music, making the entire episode feel like a Lexus commercial. I’d like to think the iPod missed our old car too. More likely, it was just mocking me.