Drive to My World

It has been 18 years since I got my driver's license.
I am a gold license holder with no accidents or traffic violations.
Living in the countryside, I drive every day. A drive of several hundred kilometers is a piece of cake for me.

It seems I like driving.
"You really like driving, don't you, Mom?"
I realized this the other day when my husband said that to me.
Maybe that's true!

I also like giving a little nod when someone lets me pass.
I like raising my hand to oncoming cars to say "thanks."
I like flashing my hazard lights to thank the car behind me, and flashing my headlights at oncoming cars to signal "go ahead" when we let each other pass.
I also like signaling to children waiting at crosswalks to go ahead, and I like the ones who give a little nod, as well as the ones who look down shyly and hurry across.

I also like stopping gently so the car doesn't jerk when I come to a halt.
I like gripping the steering wheel firmly and taking curves smoothly.
I like turning skillfully while accounting for the inner wheel difference.
That's why I actually quite like roads with crank turns.

I like driving with music blasting,
and I like spotting things from the car window, like "The ocean!" or "It's sparkling!"
(When I'm not driving, sometimes a ninja runs along the frame of the car window. They do, right? You play that game in your head, don't you?)

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I attended a local driving school during the summer break of my freshman year of college.
There were many classmates like me, and it felt like a mini class reunion.
Honestly, I was scared the first time I drove a car.
When I tried pressing the accelerator gently, the car glided forward, and I felt a chill.
I thought, "Something this big moves just from this? Scary!"
I wonder if that feeling is connected to how I drive today.

Also, since I got my license in a manual transmission car, I practiced hill starts too.
Pressing the clutch, listening to the engine sound.
I really loved the feeling of sensing the car through my feet, or rather, the feeling of becoming one with it.
It felt like riding some kind of living creature.
That feeling is also very nice.

I also have a lot of driving tips that my father, a professional driver, taught me.
When I said I was scared of pulling over to the left, he told me to remember where the line on the left side comes into view on the hood.
When I said I was scared of turning left out of a garage, he told me to consider the inner wheel difference and turn the wheel only after the front left tire has moved forward about 20 to 30 centimeters.
He taught me to always look far ahead while driving, and how tires slip on snowy or icy roads.
Also, I think childhood memories of drives, like trying to turn a red light green by saying "Go!", are connected to my safe driving today.

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I'm not that interested in cars, but it seems I like driving them.
It seems driving is a way for me to relieve stress.
Driving is fun, isn't it?
For now, just getting there and back safely is a perfect score. Safety first, after all.

When I see a car driving dangerously, I sometimes curse in my heart, "Just go ahead and crash by yourself, you clumsy idiot★." Hehe.
I have to be careful and drive cautiously so I don't get involved in anything.

To everyone, please continue to drive safely today.
Where should I go tomorrow? (Perfume/Nee)