The Simple Joy of Driving

I came to driving later in life than most, which is perhaps one reason I enjoy it so. And say what else I might about Northeast Wisconsin, this is a great place to be a driver. There's almost no traffic, so you can plan your trips practically down to the minute -- it's 38 minutes on the average from my apartment in Appleton to my workplace in Green Bay, for example, and I'm usually within a couple of minutes of that. People on the whole are polite, decent drivers (even on a couple of highways that get speedy). Parking is ample everywhere -- I haven't had to parallel park in my six years here, and frankly I've pretty much forgotten how. There is seldom a charge for parking, and even downtown ramps are at most a buck. For all the above reasons, road rage is pretty much non-existent. The only driving challenges here are related to winter conditions -- one does have to take some care with those. Otherwise, it's driving heaven.

Of course, with $3.75 gas (the new record here, yesterday), the simple joy of driving is apt to become an un-affordable joy. I may start working from home one day per week to keep my commuting costs down.