Driving On A Rainy Saturday Night

It’s a rainy Saturday night and I went over to a friend’s house for some popcorn and tea. I think that’s what you have on cool, rainy nights. Later, as I returned home, I dropped by the newspaper to pick up the morning’s edition as it came off the press. The rain had slowed down considerably by then, but it was still around.

Ages ago, so it seems, I remember rolling through the night to somewhere in the rain. Might have been to my aunt’s up in the hills, or it could have been anywhere. When you are young enough, all rainy night drives look pretty much the same. You’re in the back seat, it’s dark and you can’t tell where you are. Once in a while there is a street light at an intersection, or another car comes along. Aside from that, it’s just a dark, confusing ride.

Now that I think of it, things haven’t changed much, except I’ve moved from the back seat to the front and the windshield wipers keep working even when you are accelerating up a hill. The older crowd will know what I mean.

I firmly believe that if God meant us to be out driving at night, He would have given us headlights just above our eyes. Or another commandment, something to the effect, “Thou shalt not be on the road at night when it is raining, for thou canst really see whereof thou goest, nor take in the beauty thereof which I, the Lord your God, have created.”

That sounds reasonable to me. If the Vatican can come out with a list of new sins, maybe those guys over there can make a new commandment.