Well, that's not 100% true, it was white knuckle driving for two hours in torrential rain with lightning hitting so close to me that there was no thunder, just immediate booming and sounds like gunfire aimed at the car. Seriously, I turned around three times but finally figured that since other fools were driving in it, it must be safe. HA! At one point I stopped in a farm supply store to ask locals if driving through lightning was dangerous and if I was going to get fried in my car. One guy said, with a very southern drawl "Well, prolly not. But it could happen." Then a woman at the checkout counter said, also in a southern voice "oh, darlin' don't let him worry you. I saw a show on the Weather Channel and they said the safest place to be in lightnin' is in your car. Now, if a tornado happens, you get yourself right outta that car, but a tornado will prolly not happen today, but a car ain't no protection in a tornado." Gosh, I felt safer immediately.
I like lightning, when it is outside and I am in something sturdy with walls and a roof, not in something with wheels and not driving into the storm and with rain so heavy that water is immediately inches deep in the road. What should have taken three hours stretched into more than five hours because driving at the posted speed limit was impossible, of course. But with hands cramping on the steering wheel, I persevered and arrived in Vicksburg (again) vowing to spend two nights in one hotel.....and vowing to have one day where my total miles driven for that day did not exceed 25. This has been that day.
One forgets that Sunday is still a day belonging to a lord of some sorts here in the South. With the exception of some fast food joints and Walgreens, most businesses are closed today. This means dinner at the hotel cafe or across the street at a Mexican restaurant that has the look of a overly decorated piñata from the outside. Mediocre reviews online but I can walk there, they make Margaritas of a sort and it's open.
One odd thing I have noticed here is that the gas station food shops do not sell sunflower seeds. What is up with that, is it just a West Coast obsession? You can buy 15 different flavors of Doritos or Cheetos, an array of fried pork skins, dozens of brands of potato chips and even fried chicken but there is not a sunflower seed in sight. I like sunflower seeds when I drive but I am guessing they never caught on in the South, although I bet baseball players have a way of getting them.
Tomorrow it is back on small roads, weather permitting. I will keep you posted.....
What's the inside of your car look like when you do have sunflower seeds to eat?
ReplyDelete