So there you are, hurtling through space (except you're on a highway in a strange to you country (Nova Scotia) in your, new to you, little red rental 'sports car'. It's not really a sports car (it's a Hyundai) but it has a roaring six cylinder in it and you've had occasion to prove it can go from 0 to 80 in a matter of seconds (desperate times call for desperate measures).
But today is different. The highway lanes are narrow and the traffic is moderate. The speed limit is 100 kmh and most of the drivers think that's what they're supposed to be doing, even though it's bucketing down with the heaviest rain I've seen. So, back to where I (not you this time) was hurtling along the highway. I was only doing 80 or 90 (trying to stay out of the way of the lunatics) which was plenty fast enough for the conditions. We were doing Ok until a couple things happened at once. First, I realized there was a structural problem with the highway. Ruts had formed where the car tires tracked; ruts deep enough to collect a lot of water - enough water to cause cars to lose steerage and deep enough to set off waterfalls of water that flew up and over, landing on the windshield of the following vehicle. THAT's when control of the car became a problem. But the last straw was when the rain was coming down so hard the windshield wipers, on their fastest speed, couldn't clear the window. I couldn't even see my own hood. And THAT's when I slowed down even more and bailed off the highway onto a back road before something worse happened. Time, lives, whatever… are not worth the pace.
The last hour of todays drive was along a beautiful country road, decorated on both sides by colourful Nova Scotian homes sitting pretty on rolling, lush, green, freshly mowed lawns that went on for acres. That’s when the rain backed off and the sun began to peek out … and we crept into Antigonish, our destination for the day. We arrived in one piece with a shiny clean car, exhausted. Tomorrow's a new day and a much shorter (hopefully drier) drive to Pictou. Hope all is well with each of you and your highways don't have ruts. CJ
