Lisa and I are back in Ohio after spending the weekend driving home and then to Atlanta for training Lisa is required to have for her registry.  It was good being back at Stone Mountain where we lived for eight weeks earlier in the year.  The landscape was far greener and trees much fuller than we remember them being in January and February but one thing that has not changed is the driving conditions in Atlanta.

Her training was in the “Buckhead” area of Atlanta and required navigating rush hour traffic taking her to and from the hotel.  I have chronicled our experience with driving in Atlanta in previous posts but had to share one very funny story about our most recent driving blessing.

On our way one morning to her training, we had managed to survive the interstate and had begun the final leg of our journey toward her hotel.  On this part of the trip we traveled on a road that was six lanes but not quite as manic as the interstate since the speed limit was only 45 mph winding through both residential and business sections of “Buckhead”.  At one of the major intersections we were forced to stop (though we had the green light) while traffic slowly moved along in various directions.  To block the intersection during this brief delay would have been a deadly mistake as drivers in the early morning do not take kindly to being cut off or blocked off from their destinations.  Besides that – it is illegal.  While we waited for the traffic to clear, we noticed a young lady trying to turn left in front of our vehicle and watched as she moved across the intersection in an attempt to see the oncoming traffic.  As I mentioned this was a six lane road and the three lanes she was trying to cross was packed with cars making it impossible for her to know when it was clear to make her move.  Lisa and I almost did not want to watch as she continued to inch her vehicle as far forward as possible.  Finally, she decided to just go for it and (I promise this is true) she turned her head away slightly so as not to see what may be coming toward her and literally took her hands off her steering wheel and gunned it.  We both sort of held our breath and listened for squealing tires and ripping metal – but, apparently, she made it safely across and continued on her way.

We laughed for the next two days and are still laughing at that image.  I have to wonder if the poor woman experienced that thrill every morning on her way to work and could almost hear her shouting, “Jesus – take the wheel!”

Having experienced Atlanta driving ourselves I think Jesus may have said, “Lady, I’m sorry. But even I can’t drive in this town. You are on your own.”

Have a great day!  Steve and Lisa