Close to Nowhere
Can we talk about speeding? I have a lead foot and without cruise control I can get into trouble in a car.
When daughter Dana and son Kris were little and we still lived in Memphis, Tenn., my mother-in-law and I went a lot of places together. I-55 was about the only interstate at the time and we traveled it a lot.
On several occasions, we’d drive down I-55 toward the railroad plant where my father-in-law and my husband worked.
This was before the gas crisis hit and speed limits were just suggestions for the most part, especially on the interstate
My in-laws, Jimmie and Clifford, had recently bought a new car, a 1971 Chevrolet Impala. It was an eight cylinder and although my mother-in-law didn’t drive, it was “her” car. I was her chauffer and the kids played in the back seat (car seats were not required back then and not used — nowadays I’d go nuts with my great-grandson loose!).
Quite often while we were cruising down I-55 toward the railroad shop, I’d glance down and be driving around 80-90 mph. And I didn’t think a whole lot about it. A couple times, my mother-in-law Jimmie would tell me to hurry up and I’d be going really close to 100 mph and still not think a thing about it.
Times have really changed though. We’ve been through some really tough gasoline problems and gas prices are never going to be low again.
Those years driving Jimmie around, gas started out at around 25¢ a gallon and eventually went up to a dollar a gallon. I thought a dollar a gallon was way to high!
Today, in my car that gets 27-30 mpg I can’t even imagine a dollar a gallon. And that Impala did not get even reasonable gas mileage.
Today, I’m a fuddy-duddy driver most of the time. I drive Hwy. 7 to and from work and just about everywhere else.
And I fuss because all those Oxford students, etc. fly past me like I’m sitting still. Since the speed limit is 55 mph I set my cruise control to 60 mph.
Hwy. 7 is notorious as a speed-trap. I know this. I don’t speed 95 percent of the time.
Recently, I had cataract surgery. And the colors in the trees are just spectacular. Green is a wonderful color!
Flashing blue lights aren’t that spectacular though. While I was cruising down Hwy. 7 admiring the beauty all around me, I neglected to set my cruise or even look at my speedometer.
I won’t tell you what I got a ticket for — it was a lot. And cost me a fortune. But I was speeding.
My cruise control is set again. I look at that now before I start thinking how beautiful God’s green world is. I figure that highway patrolman was God’s way of telling me I need to start being careful again!