Speaking of Cars

Not sure how I left this out the other day, but Tom saved all of our lives.


We were returning from the family barbecue, making our way up the hill.  Traffic was light on our side, because people don't tend to go to Vegas or the River on Sunday evenings.  The speed limit is 70, which generally means you'd better be in the slow lane if that's all you're doing.  I have had people speed past me while I was doing 80.  It's a fast road. 


A mini pickup had a blowout as he sped past us  He was struggling to maintain control, but was doing a pretty good job.  Little pieces of tire were flying at all around.  Over to the side I saw a black car and a little silver car come racing up.


The squeal of brakes and that smell filled the air.  Time slowed down enough for me to think about how badly things go when time slows down.  The black car skidded.  The silver car fish-tailed.  It looked like they were dancing.  Although they had passed us, we ended up close behind them and sort of next to them as they twisted and turned and almost flipped over.  Tom kept the car moving, slowing without joining the fray.


The truck, black sedan and little silver car managed to pull themselves together pretty much at the same time.  Not surprisingly, they all pulled over, each car about a quarter of a mile apart.


Once it was all over (15-2o seconds later), I felt the burn of tears stinging my eyes.  All I could do was tell Tom how well he had handled everything and try not to think about what could have happened.  (And maybe feel glad that I hadn't complained about his driving the whole way down like I might have wanted... phew!)