A lovely Day for a DRIVE!

This was originally posted on 3/31/07, but I felt the need to Resurrect & RePost it (in case U missed it THREE years ago:-)

I. love. to. DRIVE! I feel more alive when I drive. I watch other drivers as I drive and wonder why they don't seem to share my joy! I prefer driving manual shift, because it's so much fun and sporty! I prefer driving in cities proper or along country roads, preferably with curves and wonderful scenery of rolling hills, barnyard animals and such.

My daddy was a taxi driver who continues to do so at his leisure these days. Sounds like a fun way for him to keep a li'l income coming in without the urgency that dominated when we, his children, were young "birds with our mouths open" for whatever he brought back to the "nest". I always marveled at the fact that he drove all day; then would come home and take us all for a drive to our utter delight! One of my fondest childhood "road" memories:

A family cook out draws to an end, the fire in the grill is dying down, the music has been turned down to a soft background tune and many of us children who were running around had settled on someones lap or flopped in a nearby chair listening to the adults lowered voices. A topic such as, "What is ol' so & so doing down in Charlottesville?" came up and someone suggested, "Let's go down there and see." Mind you, it was wayyyyy after midnight. But it's the weekend, I guess, so the adults agree to it. I just recall being carried into the house and had my clothes changed as I dozed on and off. I was bundled snugly into the car with everyone else and dozed to the lulling sound of my father whistling softly as he drove us toward Charlottesville, VA. I awoke to the beautiful sunrise over the rolling hills of the Shenandoah and Blue Ridge Mountains. I stood up behind my father and watched the road through the windshield for awhile as we rode. We arrived at the home of aunts and uncles who came out in their robes with disheveled hair and sleepy eyes exclaiming, "Lawd, look who's heah! What 'chall chir'en doing down heah so early?" Cousins were roused, breakfast was made and the party was on ... again!

Yeah, you could say the love for long drives was instilled into me at birth. Our time on most of these drives were filled with discussions, sometimes heated, sometimes philosophical, sometimes moral lessons taught ... no topic seemed off limits. If we weren't talking the car was filled with singing, laughing, and munching on a variety of snacks and even meals that were combinations of store bought and homemade for a mobile picnic.

After my parents divorced, my dad would pick my sisters and me up and our time spent together would entail him driving fairly non-stop; sometimes into the night. That was for weeknight visitation. Then there were weekend visits where we would drive for hours into country sides, most of the time into Virginia, sometimes through Maryland, north to Baltimore. If we were going to stay for an overnight, we might venture as far as New York City.

Cars are wonderful places of respite for me, an oasis of sorts. I go for drives in cities to keep my alertness sharp. I feel the thrill that I imagine others feel when they play video games or some competitive sport that causes their hearts to race and spirits soar.

I have contemplated the various careers of drivers, but none of them appeal to me. I don't want to race endlessly around a track, no matter how many curves are set up. I don't want to be at the beck and call of passengers. I just want to get out there in the streets and maneuver, get around drivers engrossed in their own little worlds: "digging for gold", day dreaming, arguing, putting on makeup, shaving, and of course, on cell phones. I watch with amazement, the preoccupations behind the wheels of the cars around me. I am ever amazed at the miracle that we all actually get safely to our destinations as more and more gadgetry fills the car.

I go for drives in the country when I want my mind to meander and absorb the images of the day. I like sunny drives in the country and even drizzly drives where I'm "snug as a bug" in my ride and watching the scenery around me unfold as I pass through it. My "dream" drive is the legendary beautiful California Highway Rte. 1. I am determined to take a trip to the West coast to take that "mecca" of drives along the Pacific Ocean. But until that day, I will relish in the beauty along the East coast that I love!