A Driving Fact
It occurred to me recently that I have done more driving in the past three weeks than I've done in the past eight years. Strange, no? But true. I rarely drove when I lived in NYC, save for the occasional driving I did during visits home. And I never drove in Spain--all the cars were stick-shifts, so Andrew was the designated driver for all of our explorations. But here, there is no option. I must drive, every single day, heaving myself in and out of the car, holding my breath as I ease into our unreasonably difficult parking space at the apartment complex, maneuver along the roads as I drive Andrew to work, drive myself to Panera to use their free wi-fi, drive to the mall.
Andrew, in casual conversation with one of his co-workers this week, mentioned that he hadn't had a car in New York. His co-worker was flummoxed. How did we get groceries? How did we do anything? How did we live? How could we stand going to the grocery store more than once a month? I forget sometimes that having a car is the norm, not the unpleasant exception. She was also (understandably) shocked by his mention of the recent New York Times article about the fact that parking spaces are being sold in NYC for $225,000. Ah, New York.
In any case, my driving skills are coming back, slowly but surely, and I'm definitely better now than I was three weeks ago. My maximum speed has risen to 50 now, and I can, very occasionally, muster up the courage to change lanes. Progress! A bright side of all this is that I can once again freely wear very high heels. I couldn't do that when there were long walks to the subway/metro, grocery store, etc. , often over cobblestones. Small things...
Andrew, in casual conversation with one of his co-workers this week, mentioned that he hadn't had a car in New York. His co-worker was flummoxed. How did we get groceries? How did we do anything? How did we live? How could we stand going to the grocery store more than once a month? I forget sometimes that having a car is the norm, not the unpleasant exception. She was also (understandably) shocked by his mention of the recent New York Times article about the fact that parking spaces are being sold in NYC for $225,000. Ah, New York.
In any case, my driving skills are coming back, slowly but surely, and I'm definitely better now than I was three weeks ago. My maximum speed has risen to 50 now, and I can, very occasionally, muster up the courage to change lanes. Progress! A bright side of all this is that I can once again freely wear very high heels. I couldn't do that when there were long walks to the subway/metro, grocery store, etc. , often over cobblestones. Small things...
Comments
And have no fear - we've kept the Earth in balance... I drive these days possibly once every 2 weeks, instead of my last go-round of 3 hours total commute each day. By car. In traffic.
I miss none of it.