Tuesday, June 14

Commuting, slowing down, and the pleasures of summer.

I'm not one to talk about public transportation or riding a bike to work day... you see I drive 50 (fifty) miles EACH WAY to work. Yes, that's 500 miles or so a week just in commuting.

Here in S. Carolina unleaded has "dropped" down to around $3.30 a gallon from it's high of around $3.75 a few weeks ago. I tend to spend lots of quality time with gas pumps.


Shy Sunflowers along the highway

I've been driving my 2002 Escort ZX since it gets about 10 miles a gallon more (30 or so) than the truck. The car is nice in that it has a CD player (missing from the 1995 Ranger) and my iPod cassette adapter actually works in the stereo. However, the size of the car makes me feel a lot like the clowns getting out of the car at a circus. It gets uncomfortable even in the hour it takes to get back and forth to work each way.

Oh.. I-20 how I hate you!

I've also gotten to the point that I hate driving on Interstate 20. Not only are they doing road work which has traffic slowed down.. but just the effort makes me tense.

Luckily, I've found that there are a few back roads that I can take to get back and forth to work. Of course, it means longer in the car; but I do get the benefit of getting to watch stuff grow.

Now, I'm not being funny when I say watch stuff grow. Along the way, I pass fields of cotton, corn, soybeans, and even an odd field of sunflowers like the ones above. Even though I cannot really see the growth day-to-day, before I know it the tractors are out to harvest another crop.

Summer's coming also means lots of roadside stands selling produce. Watermelons are coming in and of course the peaches are always good.

I'm also quite a fan of boiled peanuts. It is always interesting to try new stands and try to find the perfect peanut. Never tried a boiled peanut? I'll describe them for you next time.