For right now, lets just blame it all on Florida Road.
I mean, its making me do all kinds of crazy things take long road trips, vote for a Republican or two. Wacky, I tell ya.
Its also making a lot of us nervous and jittery. Its making us even more dangerous on the road than weve already become.
Look, I understand the pressure. I understand the frustrating feeling of idling in your car when youre already late for work or a meeting. I get it that there are anxious parents dropping their kids at day care or school or soccer or trombone lessons, or all of the above, simultaneously. They have my sympathy.
I understand how Florida Road construction has made many of us edgy and late for appointments. (One day when I couldnt turn onto Colorado Avenue, I had to take Riverview all the way to 32nd Street and back around just to go to the dentist.)
I understand because Im right up against it. Literally. Florida Road runs next to my backyard.
Im not thrilled that the latest estimated completion date is June. I take that to really mean September or October call me an optimist. When the cupboards shake and the plates rattle all day from the rumble of front-end loaders and excavators, its rather unnerving.
And when I have to drive miles out of my way to get home and Im in a hurry, thats no fun, either. And when I cant even leave my driveway, its truly a hassle.
So for right now, Im blaming a lot of my angst, and yours, on our yearlong project called Florida Road reconstruction.
As a bicycle commuter, its no better. But maybe the pressure brought on by Florida Roads dismantlement can explain some of my fellow Durangoans discourteous actions.
So after some time for a cool-down, I have decided not to track down the silver Honda that blew through a stop sign and couldnt pause for a half-second as we approached an intersection (right next to the bike route sign) to see that I was turning left and had the audacity to honk at me as I hogged the center of the road for all of 100 feet.
And I think it also was a proper spur-of-the-moment decision to not slam my fist into the side of the van as it cut me off at the parked car along Riverview Drive.
Anyway, heres the deal.
We need to be careful. We need to concentrate on the road. We need to make sure we dont veer into a child headed for school. We need to calm down just enough to realize that if were late already, its not going to matter that were 15 seconds tardier.
We bicycle commuters need to be cautious, too, that we dont allow this impudence to rub off on us, that we dont ruin the calm of the Animas River Trail and send dogs and old ladies scattering as we blaze to work in the morning. Ah yes, the ethics of traveling via the river trail. But thats another story for another time.
Ill quit now, and Ill end with a promise: Next column, no preaching. No politics. How about, say, a love story? You never know ...
johnp@durango herald.com John Peel writes a weekly human-interest column.
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