Please, Be Safe

Yes, I rode to work today.

Today was my last ride to and from work in the calendar year 2011. I'm taking a couple of days off. I am happy to say, I have no doctor appointments or dentist appointments. I do have an appointment. It is for routine maintenance on my car. With the scooters in my life the Yaris hasn't aged near as fast as my previous cars. It is now two years and a quarter old and even with a few long trips it has a only little over 20,000mi. I bought my first scooter two days before I bought this car. The scooter was a planned purchase -- the car was not. How many miles have I traveled on the scoots? I'm closing in on 17,000miles between the two. And, believe me there weren't any long trips in those miles.

Yesterday morning , I varied my usual route to work. A fellow at the cafe warned me of an accident at one of the intersections I usually pass through. Later I found out there had been a fatality. It was a single car accident. A young man was speeding, lost control, and hit a tree. He was only 17.

The tree used to be straight. It bears the scars of its encounter with the car. Someone had put a few votive candles at the base of the tree.

I read about the accident when I got to work. The police weren't saying if the slushy conditions contributed to the accident or not. If they did it was the old "Going too fast for conditions" thing. In another accident yesterday morning a 13 year old girl died. And, today there were two more fatal accidents. Today the roads were clear and dry. It is dangerous being on the road whether riding or driving.

Tonight after work I felt drawn to the place where the accident happened. I stopped and took a photo. Then, I just sat on the Symba for a while and offered some silence up into the darkness.

Please, be safe.

28F/-2C and some sun for the ride to work.
44F/7C and dark for the ride home.