ignorance is bliss
i was driving home from the pool - we had a swim check for the little kid scouts - and felt wonderful. i took this side road home, one that sort of cuts a corner but isnt any shorter. its just curvy and people drive faster because its out in the country and theres fewer cars. i was in the old red jeep, partly why i took the road, because driving a stick makes it so much more of an experience, less just driving. for some reason, the road opens into a fairly wide delta when it intersects the road i was on so i took the corner quickly and when i got to the apex - sort of, i mean its all relative here - i dropped it into third gear and stomped the gas. there isnt as much fear in doing that in the jeep as in some other vehicles, its the four - 2.5 litre i think - so it just goes with a good little push and grumbles a little because i hit it just below the sweet spot. i love that. it was actually a little bit downhill so i got to going a little too fast but i got going straight again without too much drama, less rolling the damn thing anyway. i figured i looked really cool but to onlookers i know i was just a jackass. whatever, i didnt really mind.
it was the slightest bit below seventy out, i think, anyway so i had both windows zipped down and my elbow hanging out. blasting jlc's 'my guitar' from the two little bass speakers behind the seats. im pretty sure i wasnt singing that time like i was earlier. no sunglasses or anything. in fact, if some cop pulled me over i think he would be surprised that i was in my swimsuit. figured there wasnt anything wrong with that since it never got wet or anything. i would have had to reach over in my pants in the passenger seat to show him my id.
this particular road simply winds and curves its way through the country, up and down a few dips and hills, typical for the piedmont, and is spattered with farms, stables, and the occasional lower-middle-class subdivision. the sun was just going down so the air was a little cool - or maybe its just my imagination as i try to relive this. i passed a couple people and went wide for a biker, hoping that nobody would come around the blind corner ahead of me while i was toeing their lane. they didnt. when i crested that wide chicane i noticed i was doing about twenty over but that didnt really bother me. nobody was really out on the roads anyway. if someone had decided to pull out in front of me or had a deer wandered onto the asphalt i might just have died.
speeding past the few remaining tobacco fields, i thought about that time earlier in the year when i almost wrecked that damn wrangler coming down a hill on new pavement, when i didnt notice that the people in front of me were stopping for a left hand turn at the bottom. i slammed on brakes so hard that the wheels locked and sort of jumped off the pavement. there was a slow motion moment of limbo there where i didnt know what was going to happen. the damn thing hopped and as it did, the rear end kicked out in little increments from left to right and back again like an little girl dancing with flowers. i kept it straight and - among copious tire screeching and the smell of wasted rubber - i stopped short of rear-ending the guy in front of me. which is a good thing, considering i was driving one of the least safe vehicles on the road. that passed through my mind but didnt really slow the thing down, not this afternoon.
nobody did, no deer did, thankfully, and i was able to make it to the top of a certain hill where, on the left was my side road back to my destination, without too much drama. (what a fucked up sentence) i love how after a while of driving fast through the country, my body works in a unison rairly acheived. whereas in most sports, certain limbs only perform simple tasks such as jumping or running or even swimming (its so learned and rhythmic), driving is different. eyes watching the road while - independantly - left hand mans the steering wheel's nine-thirty position, right hand rests on the gear shift knob, left foot pauses lightly on the clutch pedal, while right foot rests carefully on the brake. when all work in unison, an emergency stop is much less likely to kill you. i remember earlier when i had to steer right handed because i was drinking with the left, the man in front (in a jeep too i think) suddenly slowed and i think i hit the clutch and brake and the same time. there was an instant when nothing was supporting my body but my butt. some balance, i was proud of myself. these things amuse me.
so i made it back home just fine. i guess nothing really exciting happened that trip. i never got pulled over, had to burn rubber for any reason, or died. but i appreciated that it was so enjoyable, even as a quieter song crept through the speakers. there is some value in breaking the speed limit in situations like that.
the whole time, ignorance is bliss. for those couple minutes i managed to ignore my friends (however friendly) and those with means to torture me. whatever. for a minute it didnt matter. it seems like all i write about these days are those cruel kids anyway. ignorance is bliss.
it was the slightest bit below seventy out, i think, anyway so i had both windows zipped down and my elbow hanging out. blasting jlc's 'my guitar' from the two little bass speakers behind the seats. im pretty sure i wasnt singing that time like i was earlier. no sunglasses or anything. in fact, if some cop pulled me over i think he would be surprised that i was in my swimsuit. figured there wasnt anything wrong with that since it never got wet or anything. i would have had to reach over in my pants in the passenger seat to show him my id.
this particular road simply winds and curves its way through the country, up and down a few dips and hills, typical for the piedmont, and is spattered with farms, stables, and the occasional lower-middle-class subdivision. the sun was just going down so the air was a little cool - or maybe its just my imagination as i try to relive this. i passed a couple people and went wide for a biker, hoping that nobody would come around the blind corner ahead of me while i was toeing their lane. they didnt. when i crested that wide chicane i noticed i was doing about twenty over but that didnt really bother me. nobody was really out on the roads anyway. if someone had decided to pull out in front of me or had a deer wandered onto the asphalt i might just have died.
speeding past the few remaining tobacco fields, i thought about that time earlier in the year when i almost wrecked that damn wrangler coming down a hill on new pavement, when i didnt notice that the people in front of me were stopping for a left hand turn at the bottom. i slammed on brakes so hard that the wheels locked and sort of jumped off the pavement. there was a slow motion moment of limbo there where i didnt know what was going to happen. the damn thing hopped and as it did, the rear end kicked out in little increments from left to right and back again like an little girl dancing with flowers. i kept it straight and - among copious tire screeching and the smell of wasted rubber - i stopped short of rear-ending the guy in front of me. which is a good thing, considering i was driving one of the least safe vehicles on the road. that passed through my mind but didnt really slow the thing down, not this afternoon.
nobody did, no deer did, thankfully, and i was able to make it to the top of a certain hill where, on the left was my side road back to my destination, without too much drama. (what a fucked up sentence) i love how after a while of driving fast through the country, my body works in a unison rairly acheived. whereas in most sports, certain limbs only perform simple tasks such as jumping or running or even swimming (its so learned and rhythmic), driving is different. eyes watching the road while - independantly - left hand mans the steering wheel's nine-thirty position, right hand rests on the gear shift knob, left foot pauses lightly on the clutch pedal, while right foot rests carefully on the brake. when all work in unison, an emergency stop is much less likely to kill you. i remember earlier when i had to steer right handed because i was drinking with the left, the man in front (in a jeep too i think) suddenly slowed and i think i hit the clutch and brake and the same time. there was an instant when nothing was supporting my body but my butt. some balance, i was proud of myself. these things amuse me.
so i made it back home just fine. i guess nothing really exciting happened that trip. i never got pulled over, had to burn rubber for any reason, or died. but i appreciated that it was so enjoyable, even as a quieter song crept through the speakers. there is some value in breaking the speed limit in situations like that.
the whole time, ignorance is bliss. for those couple minutes i managed to ignore my friends (however friendly) and those with means to torture me. whatever. for a minute it didnt matter. it seems like all i write about these days are those cruel kids anyway. ignorance is bliss.
posted by sunshine at 11:12 PM
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