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March 03, 2019

Fear of Driving

After dark. In Tennessee.  What?

I love to drive. From my first driving lesson, in high school, until today, I absolutely love to drive. I like being on the highway flying to a destination; I like driving along scenic routes.  I can ride alone or I can have a partner.  I love to drive. Except after dark...in Tennessee.

Why's that, Missy?  No shoulders, no lights, bad signage and, worst of all, drivers who blind you with their high beams. I was taught to cut the high beams when encountering oncoming traffic.  What about you?

I generally avoid going anywhere after dark, even in the town where I live, because of the first three factors so my participation in events is limited.  I decided to conquer my dislike this past week and venture forth.

What happened, Missy?  It rained.  Both nights.  So add poor visibility to my litany of complaints.

The first foray was to Memphis, 60 odd miles away, for a program beginning at 7 p.m.  Here's the game plan: 1) leave early enough to drive during daylight hours. Simple, right? Cloudy; however, no  rain until I hit the highway. Which means...go slow. Why Lord?

Of course, by the time I hit Memphis proper, it was dark and still raining.  Signage is about the size of  a legal envelope. (I decided to see what the regs are for signage. The height of the letters can range from 4 inches to 12 inches depending on placement.  The width of the sign ranges from 18 to 48 inches.  A nice little piece of trivia for you.) Thank God for GPS.  Even then I missed the turn because there were no lights to illuminate the street, much less the sign. Drove to what I thought was the correct building, parked, and then had second thoughts.  Pulled out. Circled the block again, came back to what had to be the correct building and...someone had taken "my spot." On the upside: the program was interesting; I now have a general idea where Nordstrom Rack is located.

The second adventure was to drive to Alamo, a small town about 28 miles from me, for a 6 p.m. meeting.  Again, the game plan is to leave early enough to see where I am going. An easy drive, fairly straight but two lanes all the way.  What's this?  High water?  OMG. We have had so much rain over the last 6 weeks until anything containing water has overflowed. This includes the South Fork of the Forked Deer River which, this morning, is 2 ft above flood level.  As far as I can see there is nothing but water.  Water to the left of me; water to the right; water sitting on the nonexistent shoulders but no water on the roadway.  Lord, you brought me this far....

Made it safely to the courthouse in Alamo.  Yes, Ripley, your town square is very picturesque compared to theirs but...they have retail.  Hmm.

How were the return trips, Missy?  Dark. What is up with not having lights on major thoroughfares? Unless you are getting close to a city?  Even some neighborhoods in Memphis are dark...which explains why I didn't know where I was. Rainy. Hampers visibility during daylight but at night?  And let me explain about the lack of shoulders. I have no idea why they are nonexistent but if your tires stray one iota off the macadam, you are off the road and in a ditch or gully. No kidding. My brother claims that I hug the middle lane. True. That's the reason why.

Anyway, I made it home safely. Tom, my GPS, sent me home from Memphis along a two-lane road although he could have directed me to route 51, a divided highway.  Doesn't matter. It doesn't have lights or shoulders, either. Plus, in some places, the gullys are very deep.

I'm sure that I'll never get over my dislike of driving at night...in Tennessee. I'll check my bucket list carefully and choose which programs I really want to see before I venture out again.

Be safe. Be Blessed.

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