When you run the vehicle at 50 miles per hour, the world looks like a flat gray road, with two unending stripes painted down in the middle. But at 25 miles per hour, it’s more interesting and remarkable.
I love driving in the neighborhood where I can be within the speed limit and notice how the sky is waiting ahead to kiss this road, how a broken magnolia gives up fighting with the gravity and selects the ground for its final sleep.
I see boys playing volleyball in the green ground, a mother blending with the grass in the afternoon light, a woman taking her selfie with a dandelion seed. When we are slow, the world shows us how distinctively ephemeral every moment is.
There was no car behind me until this moment. Now a bright red Mustang really wants to go fast. “Hello! You cannot drive faster than 25, there are kids biking outside,” I find the driver on the mirror. He’s 40 something, a busy Asian Indian in America, aware of my gaze but ruthlessly clumsy, perhaps solving complex maths in his mind, designing software for some hard-hitting business, perhaps he has to reach some place urgently to fix something. “Can’t we be little cordial to each other and smile at least?”
After a fraction of moments, when the road gets wider, the Mustang overtakes, and roars a little. A girl on the sidewalk frowns at its blurry red image.
I drive cautiously, passing the homes with glass windows open to welcome lovely California breeze. Over the top of sequoia trees, in the distance, there is a thin slice of a transparent moon, hiding in its own home, almost non-existent in daylight.
I reach the traffic signal in two miles. A red light is still and clear but five hummingbirds over the wires are not. The Mustang meets my car here again. Eventually we all meet at some red signal on this journey of life. Don’t we? I smile this time.
When the light turns green, I turn to the usual right.
**
I chose ephemeral today. My most favorite words with E are ephemeral and empathy. What’s your favorite word with F? Do you love your neighborhood?
Spread the words..
A Journey Called Life ... 
Thank you, Bipasha. 🙂
Beautiful piece.
Thank you so much, Indira. 🙂
Beautiful description like a poem. You are very good with words. I forgot to mention in earlier post, photographs are fantastic.
Thank you very much, Shailaja. 🙂
Wow! Thank you very much, Diane. 🙂 See you soon again. 🙂
What a beautiful blog and descriptive prose. I plan on visiting you again, and reading more. Found your blog through the A to Z challenge. http://www.dianeweidenbenner.com
Loving the way you describe the stream of consciousness writing in this piece, Archita.
Thank you very much, Rays. 🙂
Eating has to be one of the most used words. We all live to eat and eat to live. Thank you very much for your comment, Teresa. 🙂
Thank you very much for your wishes and the encouragement , Hennessy! 🙂
This post is from real experience. I know sometimes people really have to go faster than the others, but I often find many of them at the next traffic signal. Strange! And then even in life, I came across such events, so I had to share here. 🙂 Enlightenment for me too. Thank you very much for the lovely visit. 🙂
I loved reading your post too. Thank you very much for reading and your comment, Nancy. 🙂
Enjoyed your post. Such beautifully formed thoughts.
Lovely post and blog. I’ve noticed that phenomenon you mentioned where the speedy car and the slower car often even out at traffic lights. Sometimes I have been the speedy one, and sometimes the slower one — definitely my preference. My E post is on Enlightenment, which is a word that I love, but I also love encouragement and empathy.
Visiting from a to z blog challenge.
siouxsiesmusings.blogspot.com
I agree with Rays, beautiful piece! And great word choices for E!
Good luck with the 2015 A to Z Challenge!
A to Z Co-Host S. L. Hennessy
http://pensuasion.blogspot.com
Nice writing. I can’t think of an E word that’s my favorite, but I could “eat” something right now–preferably chocolate.
It’s a beautiful narration, Archita. What a brilliant piece!