The Shew View

Remembering

Remembering is something we often forget to do.

It usually takes a holiday like today, Memorial Day, or life events like births, weddings, and deaths for us to slow down and remember.

While each of us is here on this planet to make something of himself or herself, part of that process is remembering others.

Certainly, it's important to remember the millions who have died in wars to keep our way of life alive. I've been lucky because all of my family members and friends who went to war in the last century and this one have also come home.

Those who did come home, though, make sacrifices of their own every day by living with the memories of war's atrocities. (For a compelling view of what this really means, read The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien).

Will the need to have a day for remembering those who sacrificed their lives ever go away? Even some of the most hopeful science fiction I have read or watched always has a war in it somewhere. John Lennon dared imagine a world free from war. And now he's gone too.

Driving at the Speed Limit

Driving at the speed limit is a lot harder than it sounds. 

About two years ago I got the fourth speeding ticket of my driving lifetime of decades. I don't know who I was madder at, the cop who selected my car out of a dozen around me driving at the same speed or faster, or myself for not paying attention to the earlier hints of a speed trap.

On the spot I decided the aggravation and cost of getting a ticket was not worth whatever time I thought it bought me, and I promised myself, never again.

I've made good on my promise, but it's not been easy. Driving more slowly has required I drive more defensively as others swerve around me in their rush to get where they're going. (Which, I admit, I used to do too.) I watch for speed limit signs, especially on roads I'm very familiar with, as that very familiarity could get me in trouble because there is usually only a 5mph difference from road to road.

Cruise control has been a huge help. I even use it at 30 mph when I cruise through small towns throughout the area, especially down in the Finger Lakes where cops lie in wait for tourists not paying attention.

While the sight of a police car in my rear view mirror still throws me into a moment of dismay until I recheck my speedometer, driving at the speed limit has reduced a surprising amount of driving stress I didn't know I had. I sail past a NYS trooper parked in the medians of the Thruway, knowing that they have to find someone else to pull over.

Hmm. I wonder if I should start a Slow Driving movement like that of Slow Food or Slow Family Living?

Related Book
In Praise of Slowness: Challenging the Cult of Speed (Amazon Affilitate link)