Highway 160, Blount County, Alabama—The Country.
It’s dark out as I drive Highway 160 back home.
My speed? 50.
The Speed Limit? 55.
The Speed others are driving? 70.
Luckily, there are not many others on the road with me tonight.
“Dragnet” is playing over the radio.
There is nothing but country passing by me as I drive.
People’s homes have big yards out here— Three acres or more per home.
Cows and small fishing ponds also pass by me as I drive.
I roll my windows down and put one arm out the window.
I drove through a “Round About” on my way home tonight.
The area I live in wanted to put a “Round About” in.
Many people were against it, and many were for it.
It was a big discussion.
I don’t care either way. I don’t see any problem with them.
Up ahead, I see something familiar—a deer. This area is full of wildlife. I slow down.
The deer does decide to run out in front of me and cross the road.
I had slowed down enough to let him pass. I speed back up.
“Joe Friday” is on the hunt for drug dealers on “Dragnet.”
Or “Smack Dealers,” as Joe calls them.
The wind blows through my hair as I drive.
And in this moment, instead of being a Forty-Something-year-old man driving home, I feel like a teenager going out for a Friday Night of fun.
Life can be good to you like that at times.
