Save for four years in up State New York when I attended Union, I have lived in Connecticut all my life. And I have to scratch my head… I can’t recall a cooler or more miserable Spring than this year… If I were a dinosaur I would be deeply concerned… this maybe the start of a new Ice Age (so much for global warming).
Still, age has a way of magnifying everything we experience — weatherwise at least. “This was our worst winter.” or “We have never had more rain.” or the obverse “Do you think this is bad? Why when I was a kid it never got above zero for ten days straight and it snowed 1′ every day (and we still had to go to school).”
But New England or not, this year’s Spring weather has put me on edge. But today my attitude changed and I don’t care if it snows tomorrow. This morning on the way to “Chez Maheesh” (that’s the Exxon Mini-Mart for the uninitiated) to pick up my medium dark roast, I caught sight of a woman behind the wheel of a big assed yellow Vet, top down, waiting for the light to change.
Yeah, top down! It was that type of morning. Clear blue sky, dry air and the sun breathing down. After weeks when it’s been cool, when it’s been rainy, if you have a convertible you have been itching for a day like today.
Now some folks don’t need a nice day to put their tops down. Regardless of the season or the weather they drive around with their tops down. Shameless show-offs and grandstanders! Like the kooks who swim in the ocean in sub-freezing weather. Or, you know the type… “Hey, watch this… I can hit the urinal from the second sink, standing on one leg with my eyes closed…” Spare me.
No… I am not talking about forcing an issue, or parading around and strutting your stuff.
This about a day when putting the top down is a way to recognize the beauty of the day. A day when our spirit is released to the sun, the air and its movement as we drive about.
Put me back a few years. You will not find me behind the wheel of a monster Corvette, nor a low-slung “E Jag”, nor will it be a Cadillac Convertible that Dad loved… No, it will be in the fire engine red 1952 MGTD that was the “second car” we all got to drive… first Dad, Paul, Lynn & then me.
Speed and power wasn’t required. No… just a grand day, a bit of country road and put the top down. I could be headed for Race Brook Country Club or the beaches of Milford and somehow driving open to the air enlivened my being… elevated my soul… the wind, the texture of the air, the sound of cars passing by… you just felt better about yourself.
No need for music pumping and thumping, I was driving to the sound of the motor and with rhythms and beat that were of my making. Tooling my way thru Woodbridge, Orange and even in New Haven… it couldn’t have been better.
Then mid-summer lay at my feet… a new discovery: driving with the top down on a July evening with the head lights projecting up to the canopy of green leaves that covered the country lane and illuminated my path. Oh yes, the air was thick with humidity that intensified the fragrance of honeysuckle. Even the chorus of crickets could be heard, blended to the sound of the MG’s motor whirring thru the gear shift.
Perhaps this was better than driving with the sun on my shoulders?
So… I look at the lady in the yellow Corvette again. Do you know how lucky you are? Oh no, not because you are driving an expensive “toy”… but lucky to be driving on a day that says “smile”… even red lights can’t spoil your day! You feel the sun on your arms, you feel the wind to your face and some how you feel more complete. It’s a beautiful day!