"Men and Their Automobiles"

Yesterday I went to Hilton Head, South Carolina. It is a three and a half-hour drive from my home in Perry, Georgia but that didn't faze me. I had been invited by a book club to give a talk and was ready to go when the alarm clock went off yesterday morning.

Now I enjoy talking to book clubs. Truth is I enjoy talking period. I like to tell stories, talk about movies, and just get to meet and talk with new people. I have always loved to talk. My mother said I talked at an early age because I had so much I wanted to get said.

In addition to liking to talk, I also like to drive. Change that - I love to drive. I like getting behind the wheel of a car and just letting go. I like the thrill of driving and I like the power of driving. When I am in a car I don't like for anyone else to drive. I want to be in control.

The seven hour round trip yesterday was like a vacation. On the way to Hilton Head I ate cheese crackers and peanut butter and drank diet coke. I had a new "Sugarland" CD I had gotten for Christmas so I was perfectly content. The hours flew by and soon I was there. I wasn't tired. If anything I was refreshed.

On the way back I stopped and got a hamburger and fries to eat while driving. Plus I had a big diet coke to go with it. This time it was the soundtrack from the movie version of "The Producers" in the CD player. I had seen the movie and the company had sent me the soundtrack as an added bonus. Again the trip was almost instantaneous.

I don't know what it is about driving. It just fascinates me. When we moved to California several years ago we drove out. I could have kept going except that pesky ocean got in the way. I liked the scenery, the fun of staying in new places, and the adventure of going from coast to coast.

My wife does not like to drive. To her it is a chore. She is a good driver, but a cautious one. Maybe it is a male thing. Maybe men just like being in control. Or maybe it is just a man's need for speed.

Whatever it is, for me there is just about nothing better than getting behind the wheel of a car and hitting the open road. I do my best thinking when I am driving, and I seem to be smarter when I think behind the wheel. That probably isn't true but it sure seems that way. I have gotten ideas and solutions that I couldn't get when I was stuck behind a desk.

So God bless the open road and also those brilliant inventors of the automobile. And thank God I live in the age of the automobile. A horse would never have been as much fun.

 

 

 

 

 

©2006 Jackie K. Cooper

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