Dan Antion

Witness Protection – #1LinerWeds

No longer commuting to work has caused fewer encounters with Bat-Sh*t Crazy drivers, but the phenomenon loosely known as Pandemic Driving has more than made up for the lack of miles I’m covering. Fortunately, I’m mainly seeing scary stupid stuff, and not horrific accidents, but our local paper reported that, despite way fewer miles being driven, there were more highway fatalities than in any of the three previous years.

I have noticed a general increase in people just flat-out ignoring signs, lights and markings. A couple weeks ago, I was run up onto a snowbank by a guy who, despite seeing me turning right from out of an intersection, decided to make a series of 30° turns instead of a 90° turn at the intersection. I drove around him, as he drove right through where I had been stopped.

Last week, I was coming home with a pizza I had just picked up from our favorite restaurant. I was about a mile from home, following a large pickup truck. As we approached a busy intersection, the light turned red. The truck stopped. He had his signal on, indicating he was going to make a left turn. As oncoming traffic started backing up on the other side of the light, the guy in the truck just turned left. Visibility at this intersection is very bad. There are signs prohibiting even making a right turn on red. After the ruck turned, cars came through (cars that still had a green light) from both directions. Horns had honked, I’m sure gestures had been exchanged, but no one was hurt.

It’s hard to see that the street at the top is coming up a steep hill. It’s easy to see how little visibility he had for making that left turn on his left side.

After I realized that we were all safe, I immediately moved to a different hypothetical situation.

“If I witnessed an accident, and had to stay until the police arrived, my pizza would have gotten cold.”

Insensitive? Well, it was just a thought.

This post is part of Linda G. Hill’s fun weekly series One-Liner Wednesday. If you would like to join in on the fun, you can follow this link to participate and to see the one-liners from the other participants.

Monday began with snow that turned to rain. Tuesday was going to be too cold to walk, so Maddie and I squeezed a walk in between bands of rain. Our walk was full of haze and puddles. I hope you like the photos I collected.

We tried to sneak our walk in between showers. This was the puddle at the end of our driveway. Not a good sign.
Maddie tried to drag me through that gate. It’s her favorite way to enter the park, but not today.
The park is waking up.
This blew out of the tree and managed to get stuck in the chain.
We have a system. Maddie sniffs, I click.
Maddie and I were relegated to the middle of the road. She doesn’t mind puddles, but there’s also a bit of ice in there.
You can start to see signs of life in these tress.
One flag – Every American! Note: I did a little work to highlight the flag(s).
This is one of my favorite reflections.
We’re starting to see more and more green.
They’ll be playing ball pretty soon.
Overnight wind gusts of up to 50 mph (80 kph). No real damage, but we didn’t get much sleep.
Bright sun, but strong winds and very cold.
Yesterday, it was 13°f (-11°c) with a wind chill of -5°f (-21°c) – No Walk!!!
Another one for River.
I believe the command was “Up Peanut Scope!” It was very cold. This guy was hoping for delivery.

73 comments

  3. Extraordinary photos, Dan. I particularly love the ones that include reflections. Your one-liner brought a smile. Yep, your pizza would definitely be cold. 😄

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • I’m sorry to be laughing at your comment. I know it’s sad, but it struck me as funny. We have done awful drivers here in the northeast, but it has gotten noticeably worse this past year.

      Stay safe, and thanks for visiting.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    • I swear, this bunny understands “River needs a bunny pic.” Left on red, straight on red, act like there ain’t no red, we’ve seen it all. It’s no wonder the death rate is up.

      Liked by 1 person

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      • And I appreciate it’s continued cooperation in posing. I don’t know why we’ve never seen a bunny here, but I suspect the high number of fox visitors has something to do with it.
        😳

        Liked by 1 person

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  7. Crazy drivers! That guy in the truck is fortunate he didn’t cause a major accident or get stopped by a cop. I bet you would like to know what he was thinking…or not thinking.

    I love your photo of the hanging bit of a pine tree. Very cool! Have a great day, Dan. 😎

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Thanks Mary. I like to think he had a better view from the cab of his truck, but I owned pickups for 15 years, and I could never see around that intersection. I’m glad you like that photo. I always find it amazing when things end up stuck in fences. That little bit of branch probably fell at from at least 30′ up, and the “stem” landed inside a link of that chain. What are the chances?

      I hope you’re having a great week.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  8. Hi Dan – sadly I didn’t enjoy your photos … only because I’m sitting under very wet low cloud and it’s now 2.30 pm … not much chance of a change til tomorrow, I hope! I’m glad I haven’t been out on the main roads – people do take liberties … I’ve seen it in town – but not too often thankfully. I’m glad you’re safe and also that Pizza could be enjoyed at home – I am just very glad I’m not a delivery driver … take care – and cheers! Hilary

    Liked by 1 person

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    • I’m sorry to amplify the gloomy weather. We were out during the only real break that we had on Monday. It’s finally sunny today. I hope your sunny day is on its way. We are very careful when we drive. I’m not sure if the pent-up feeling adds to the craziness, or what, but there are a lot of dangerous folks on the road.

      Take care!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  10. I just love your pictures of the reflections in the water. Brilliant. And yes Mother Nature is teasing us. Spring is nudging at the corners of our days and I am growing impatient.

    Liked by 1 person

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  11. Cold pizza is OK as leftovers, but not fresh! The reflections are beautiful–especially the flag photo. So well done, Dan. That last photo–waiting for peanut delivery. Cute!!! Wait, you did deliver, right?

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Thanks Lois, and yes, I did deliver, but not in the hole. We don’t want to encourage the destruction of the log rack covers. I put peanuts near the “entrance” at the bottom. I’m glad you like the flag.

      Take care.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  13. Insensitive? Maybe, but pizza is serious business in our house so you’re forgiven. I’m struggling with pandemic driving. These people have gone seriously whackadoodle.

    Liked by 1 person

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    • Thanks Robbie. It’s good to know it’s not just here. I have heard about drivers in Italy, from friends who visit family there on a regular basis. I never heard that it was bad in France. I had no clue about South Africa. I think I’d be scared to drive there. I’m glad your kids thought the comment was funny and not insensitive.

      Liked by 1 person

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  19. Oh Dan, those bats*** crazy drivers in your area…..all their relatives apparently live here! And they all went to the same driving course. No where to run, no place to hide!

    Love, love, love the reflection pictures, most especially the flag. I have no idea how you “cheat” on the color, but I just love black & white photos where one focal point is in color.

    What a great guy you are to hand deliver peanuts to the ‘squatter” squirrel after almost becoming road splat yourself. And you managed to save the pizza and get it on the table still warm. Bravo! Gotta love a guy who can multitask!

    Great one-liner. It reminded me of something I read…..don’t know the author.

         If you have to choose between drinking wine every day or being skinny,
      which would you choose? Red or white?

    I hope I’m leaving you laughing! 🤗
    Ginger

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    • Haha – I like that a lot, Ginger. The software I use to crop and shrink the photos (Adobe Lightroom) has a tool that lets you apply certain actions with a small digital brush. I chose a combination of effects which highlight the color and brightness of just the flag. The I realized I had to do the reflection as well. It’s not perfect, I was a little sloppy, but I like the result.

      I never thought I’d be so happy to make it home with a pizza. I’m sorry these people are everywhere. How much of a hurry can you possibly be in to risk a major collision.

      The squatters are likely to be evicted when spring arrives, unless they decide to have babies in there. Then it could have to edit. But the firewood has a date next winter with The Editor’s wood stove.

      Thanks for visiting and thanks for a good laugh.

      Like

      Reply

  20. I do love your reflection shots! I’m on extra-sharp lookout when I go out these days. I know /I/ feel like I’m in FantasyLand when I leave the house, so I assume everybody else does, too. :/ Glad nobody was hurt in your close encounters, and that your pizza didn’t get cold.

    Liked by 2 people

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  22. The bit about your pizza getting cold made me think of this……. I can’t tell you how many times I have witnessed maniac (or just jerk) drivers and then immediately thought, “How much trouble would I really get in if you had an accident and I didn’t bother to stop — because you sure as hell wouldn’t deserve any help — at least not from me!” So I don’t think you were being insensitive at ALL, Dan!

    Liked by 1 person

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  23. I do like your photos, especially those with reflections. Bad driving. Sigh. I’ve seen a lot of that here in Arizona and more accidents than I ever saw in either Ohio or Illinois. Lots of vehicles here must not pay extra for turn signals/indicators. :-(

    janet

    Liked by 1 person

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  24. Balderdash! Dan, those statistics shocked me. I don’t think I had heard the term “pandemic driving”… but I get it. How can people be so stupid and self-absorbed? Back in the bad old days, my former sister-in-law once remarked of an of a (sort of Y shaped) intersection near our house in the country… Not much traffic. I saw a car coming maybe one in every 4 times I came to that spot. So, I’m driving, I stop and look. She said, “Oh you look? I never bother to look when I come through there.” People continue to amaze me with their conscious decisions to NOT think. Stay safe and well. Hugs on the wing!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • I had a coworker who caused an accident at a 4-way stop. He said “I figured everyone else would stop, so I didn’t.” It’s crazy out there. I knew people were driving faster but to have more deaths with so much less traffic is astounding.

      Liked by 1 person

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  25. What a great term: pandemic driving. Since we moved in the midst of Covid lockdown, I have no idea if people drive crazier than before. Also, California is known for aggressive and crazy driving, and here in Texas they drive slower, so we’re good

    Liked by 1 person

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  27. Ah, the puddle pics <3 Lovely!
    My goal in driving is to arrive alive, safety first. The actions of other drivers indicate their motives do not match my own.
    Your pizza would get cold, absolutely. You can always give your contact information to the driver who wasn’t breaking the law and continue home with hot pizza :)

    Liked by 1 person

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  28. Insensitive is the guy in the truck making the turn that could have endangered someone. I’m glad you didn’t have to decide. I like cold pizza, but maybe not New England cold.

    Liked by 1 person

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    • I guess these crazy drivers are everywhere, Jennie. The article that I read about the increase in highway deaths noted that most were single drivers who apparently lost control. It’s just sad. I’m glad you liked the highlighted flag. I don’t use that feature often, but I like making the flag stand out.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  30. We had wicked wind last night that didn’t subside until about 4 this morning. I’m going to need a nap. Thankfully our weighing down the grill worked and the 50 mph wind gusts didn’t knock it over. It got knocked over by wind 3 times last year.

    I love the reflections in the puddles!

    I am glad you weren’t hurt or wrecked by the jerk who ran you up the embankment!

    Liked by 1 person

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  31. Pandemic driving has only gotten worse here in LA. My wife and I have witnessed so many cars on the freeways that believe they are alone on a Los Angeles freeway….hello, no one is ever alone on an LA freeway even in the middle of the night. We have experienced a number of close calls due to the inability of drivers to recognize other cars. It use to be caused by looking at your phone instead of the freeway, now it just seems to be pure ignorance!!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

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