Why I love driving in NYC

I hate a whole lot about driving in NYC, but one of the things I love about slow traffic is all of the interesting things you can see if you look out the window. If NYC is a microcosm of the world at large, then looking out your car window is like the ultimate reality tv show.

Thursday I had to run into town to make a meeting about one of my new book projects. Traffic sucked eggs and I was fried by the time I got there, but the meeting went well so I was in fine spirits on the drive home despite the early part of rush hour traffic. So I was heading west on 19th street and was treated to the sight of two nuns directing traffic in full habit – they were trying to help someone back into a tight spot in a large van.

Now I went to Catholic high school so I get that nuns are real people and do things like grocery shop and run errands like anyone else. But there was something visually appealing about these two ladies looking so serious on a beautiful day while they figured out how to direct this massive van backwards in heavy traffic. I had to pass before they finished, but I bet they made it.

Next was an only in NY story that irritated me no end, but you have to give the guy credit for cojones if nothing else. I had made it to the West Side Highway headed north and traffic was dense but moving slowly. Someone on a not-quite-motorcycle was squeezing in between the lanes of traffic to get to the front. I know they do that because they can and it doesn’t usually bother me, but I get nervous when quarters are as tight as they were that someone is going to get squashed. Now he is on my right side, barely squeeking through, and he reaches up and pushed my side view mirror in towards the car so he can get by! I have one of those mirrors that does that on purpose so he didn’t break the mirror, and I started to admire his clear thinking until he whipped past me and I realize that now I can’t use that mirror!!! I was good and annoyed for about five minutes, you would think he would have realized he was limiting my visibility, but at the next slow down I leaned over and clicked it back into place. Which took a little more doing than you might think because I have what is probably the last van in the world that doesn’t have automatic windows so I have to put the car in part, undo the seatbelt, lean way over and crank like hell. I managed though, just in time to see a DHL van crossing in front e that had an orange traffic cone wedged at an unfortunate angle through its front grille. Made me wonder what kind of driving day THAT guy was having…

Not much on the knitting front, my Clapotis is coming along nicely and will hopefully be finished soon.

Off to visit my sister for a few days so no new posts until Thursday night of Friday. Maybe I will have some good photos by then!

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