While in New York, my cousin Ro has been letting us use her car. As you can see, there is a HUGE difference in what I drive and what she drives. She has a Mini Cooper. We, uhh....don't.
Her car is a convertible, so I've been tooling around with the top down; normally not something I'd do since I can't stand both the heat and my hair whipping around at the same time, but the weather here has been beautiful and my hair is short so there isn't much whipping going on. The one thing I have noticed while driving topless is how much of a sensory experience it is. I not only see what I'm driving by from a different angle, but I can also smell everything. Most of it has been good; honeysuckle and lilacs, freshly cut grass and people cooking out in their backyards, but some smells I can do without, like garbage, cow manure and exhuast.
When I've been out on the road for a while, I feel like I've forgotten how to drive a car, and driving a car this small is not only an adjustment, it's a teensy bit frightening. Maybe it's because I'm not used to it, but I think a big part of it is being in New York where no one, not one soul, knows how to do anything slow. They are all in a huge rush to go nowhere. Even the old people move fast.
I'm a native New Yorker and I truly love, love, LOVE the area I'm in right now - Westchester County - an area full of hamlets and villages and river towns. But just try to do the posted speed limit in these towns (most of which are 25, 30, 35 mph) and see how fast someone connects themselves to your bumper or careens around you, one hand in the air. They are not waving.
I can't say I never drove faster than I do now; I did when I was younger, but never recklessly and never at as frenetic a pace as people here do. I drive much slower now, most of the time never going more than two miles over the posted speed limit. I'm a grandma in the truck. I can just lumber along and I never, ever worry about holding up traffic.
Ed taught me how to do that. Initially I was concerned that I was holding people up, but he said he never worries about what's going on behind him. He just concentrates on what he's doing, making all of his moves in a safe manner and paying attention to what's going on around him but not letting other people dictate how he should drive.
And now that I drive a truck, I'm much more aware of what I do in a car since anything that happens to me while driving affects the only license I have, my CDL. So going the speed limit is important to me and whether I'm driving the truck or a Mini, I'm doing it.
So for the rest of the week if you see a chubby chick in a Mini (car, not skirt) going one mile over the speed limit, it might be me. Please don't make any sudden moves in my vicinity because I'm on hyper alert while in this car and you might startle me. And if I'm startled, I might slow down. And slowing down might get me hurt.
There are senior citizens with Cadillacs here. And canes.
And coming up against either one of those in a Mini doesn't give me many options.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
1 YEAR AGO: Wild In Tennessee
2 YEARS AGO: Isn’t There A Third Evil?
3 YEARS AGO: What The Hell Is This???
4 YEARS AGO: Sorry, no post from 5/20/05
Her car is a convertible, so I've been tooling around with the top down; normally not something I'd do since I can't stand both the heat and my hair whipping around at the same time, but the weather here has been beautiful and my hair is short so there isn't much whipping going on. The one thing I have noticed while driving topless is how much of a sensory experience it is. I not only see what I'm driving by from a different angle, but I can also smell everything. Most of it has been good; honeysuckle and lilacs, freshly cut grass and people cooking out in their backyards, but some smells I can do without, like garbage, cow manure and exhuast.
When I've been out on the road for a while, I feel like I've forgotten how to drive a car, and driving a car this small is not only an adjustment, it's a teensy bit frightening. Maybe it's because I'm not used to it, but I think a big part of it is being in New York where no one, not one soul, knows how to do anything slow. They are all in a huge rush to go nowhere. Even the old people move fast.
I'm a native New Yorker and I truly love, love, LOVE the area I'm in right now - Westchester County - an area full of hamlets and villages and river towns. But just try to do the posted speed limit in these towns (most of which are 25, 30, 35 mph) and see how fast someone connects themselves to your bumper or careens around you, one hand in the air. They are not waving.
I can't say I never drove faster than I do now; I did when I was younger, but never recklessly and never at as frenetic a pace as people here do. I drive much slower now, most of the time never going more than two miles over the posted speed limit. I'm a grandma in the truck. I can just lumber along and I never, ever worry about holding up traffic.
Ed taught me how to do that. Initially I was concerned that I was holding people up, but he said he never worries about what's going on behind him. He just concentrates on what he's doing, making all of his moves in a safe manner and paying attention to what's going on around him but not letting other people dictate how he should drive.
And now that I drive a truck, I'm much more aware of what I do in a car since anything that happens to me while driving affects the only license I have, my CDL. So going the speed limit is important to me and whether I'm driving the truck or a Mini, I'm doing it.
So for the rest of the week if you see a chubby chick in a Mini (car, not skirt) going one mile over the speed limit, it might be me. Please don't make any sudden moves in my vicinity because I'm on hyper alert while in this car and you might startle me. And if I'm startled, I might slow down. And slowing down might get me hurt.
There are senior citizens with Cadillacs here. And canes.
And coming up against either one of those in a Mini doesn't give me many options.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
1 YEAR AGO: Wild In Tennessee
2 YEARS AGO: Isn’t There A Third Evil?
3 YEARS AGO: What The Hell Is This???
4 YEARS AGO: Sorry, no post from 5/20/05
3 comments:
While you are in the area a trip ti Lime Rock in CT or Watkins Glenn might cure the slow driving!
Man I hate driving a car when I get home!
I always feel like I'm in a go-cart skimming along the ground. I usually drive slow in a four-wheeler cause I feel so exposed and vulnerable. But where I live slow works just fine.
HaHa! I can relate! I've slowed down myself since driving a truck. And I want to trade in my Monte Carlo for an SUV or Ram or something so bad! You can see so much more going on around you in a big rig... and girl, how I wish people would realize that when they pass with their brights on! One of my pet-peeves...
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