Heading north St Francis Drive in Santa Fe watching a large Dust devil traveling East. I realize we are going to collide so I slow down a little. Suddenly a fifteen foot tall Russian Olive takes flight and lands in front of my truck. I swerve around it and wonder if I should call 911 or the county or something . Eventually I do nothing. This morning someone has dragged it from the driving lanes and there it lies alone and un-mourned.
Back when I had my commute from hell in California, I was driving to work one morning in my buzzy little Hyundai. The traffic had finally let up and everyone was travelling at about 75 to 80 mph. I was in the fast lane, a California following distance (way too close) behind the vehicle in front of me--a recent model Dodge truck with some brand-new appliances in the back. As we were driving, the wind got under the lid of a washing machine box, lifted it out of the bed of the truck, and dropped it on the road right in front of me. I immediately slammed on the brakes and started skidding, out of control straight at the washing machine that was tumbling down the road at maybe 60 mph or so in front of me. I somehow had the presence of mind to think that I needed to control the car and steer around it--that if I kept skidding, there was no way to avoid hitting it. I popped my foot off the brakes which roll-started the engine, stomped the gas for traction and steered onto the median to go around the washing machine. I could see the thing tumbling less than 1 foot outside my passenger-side door as I drove by. The car behind me followed suit, the pickup truck behind him veered into the middle lane, and the car behind him had enough time and distance to stop. I got back into traffic and drove up to the nearest exit, where I pulled over and waited for my hand to stop shaking enough to allow me to dial 911.
ReplyDeleteSadly, I think the washing machine was probably mourned for more than your tree. In an ideal world, would it be the other way around?