This neighbor is currently running up and down my street - has been for the last hour or so. At least he is wearing a helmet. On an all too regular basis someone is scrapping the body parts of teen drivers off the payment and out of wrecked cars here in Sonoma county. Just a few nights ago some teens were racing through a near-by neighborhood at speeds up to 70 mph (news story) when they crashed into some cars and caused serious damage to themselves. I don't know if there is anything particularly unique to this place - we have a lot of old farming roads with blind curves and a lot of folks who seem to need to drive as fast as possible on those roads. I'm a fast driver and yet more often then not I've got some large pick up truck (my new favorite car to hate now that I'm out of Marin) trying to drive up my exhaust pipe. I want a sign I can turn on - say mounted in my rear view mirror that says: I can't go any faster than the car in front of me just to drive down River Road.
There seems like there is a lot of anger on the road around here.
A few months ago, Bill & I were in a casual upscale bar in Windsor with a friend from Windsor Presbyterian Church on a Friday night. It was singles night - but the desperation in the room was odd to figure out. Am I older now and can see it better? It seemed like folks were in some form of a dead-end desperation - and were drinking, trying to hook up, as a way to cover over the pain. Is this the new economy? Where is the hope?
Maybe I'm too naive. Maybe I'm too protected. Maybe I'm too old. Maybe there is a need for speed just to feel like you're getting someplace - anyplace - even if its the same old place.
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