A bump on the road
Yesterday, driving on Interstate 80 West, all was well until about an hour away from home, when traffic came to a screeching halt. This was a jaanavaasam (cavalcade) of mostly huge 18 wheeler trucks, the few cars like commas in today’s English. Soon, emergency vehicle after emergency vehicle whizzed past. We waited. And waited. And waited. At least two helicopters circled by too.
Husband got out – middle of nowhere, miles away from the nearest exit – for a reconnaissance trip. He met a truck driver who assumed he spoke Hindi, and a family with two elders just picked up from JFK on the way to Cleveland. They had hours to go still.
As I began reading in the backseat, husband encouraged me to come out and take in the fresh air. We sat on the guard rails, observing a few others sauntering around this limited access highway. The guard rails became uncomfortable. The ground called out. Bliss. Alexander McCall Smith, through Mma Ramotswe, was the perfect companion with kindly and compassionate introspections on life’s minutiae. I was chuckling away. The occupants of the car right behind us were guffawing unbridled – in a good way, I must add!
200 minutes in, I strode towards the source of the bottleneck to know when we might be on our way. It began to release. Poor husband chased me down worrying how his wife would get into the right-side passenger seat from the highway’s left shoulder. Well, I was fast and the vehicle behind, respectfully slow.
We soon saw the scene. At least two 18 wheelers, two SUVs and three more cars were affected. Today, we read that a moving truck had hit stationary vehicles at a construction stop. That truck hit two vehicles initially, jackknifed and hit at least two more. Five from one family were all in extremely serious condition. It was most humbling.
A 4 hour journey took us 7.5. All I could think of was how lucky we had been. We were not part of the accident. The weather had been glorious. No rain or snow, no blistering sun either. We were both well and not rushing anywhere for a flight or an emergency. A mere bump on the road on a great day nevertheless.
