The Blind Man Society

It was Friday. 

I was driving down the freeway, and headed for my lucky traffic light.  I shifted the manual transmission car I was in, and adjusted my speed as I headed up the exit ramp to Good Hope Road, in Milwaukee.  The light at the top of the ramp was red, and I shifted into neutral so that the car coasted and slowed.  I was almost at the top of the ramp, and the light turned green.  I floored it, and raced through the intersection.  In those days, hitting a green light on that ramp meant I was assured I could do no wrong from that point forward, and for the rest of the day and night.  It was a secret weapon and precursor for all important activities. 

I turned left through the intersection and sped up, heading down the slanting pavement towards the turn on to River Road at the bottom of the hill.  I was tempting people to race me along the way, and since I was in a beat up stick -shift minivan, and driving with an attitude, there was a never-ending string of cars that took the bait.  They all went roaring past – some laughing at the little 16 year old upstart driving like he was in a superior auto, some angry, some flashing smug looks. 

At the last minute I slowed down like Maverick hitting the air brakes in Top Gun, and they all went flying by.  At the bottom of the road, a cop lay in wait.  They raced by, and the police officer turned on his lights and went roaring after them to pull over the speeding group.  And, from that day forward, I called the drive there to River Road “traffic lights and predators.” It was fun to “feed” the cops.

All the cars were gone, the police in pursuit, as I made my right turn onto N. River Road, and as I drove slowly, carefully, observing the speed limit, I thought about my fascination with predators.  It occurred to me that the most beautiful and specialized animals on this planet are predators.  Whether their hunting techniques were ambush, pack hunting, active specialized hunting or camouflage…whether they were subterranean, arboreal or ground…desert, forest, air or sea.

Hm.