The Ancient Art of Driving

A friend of mine once heard from a woman that 1-4-3 means “I love you”.

That is simply not true.

1-4-3 is only important because it is a speed I maintained on I-95 going to John & Channa’s wedding with that selfsame friend in my car.

That is the only legitimate correlation I see between 1-4-3 and love.

At 143 miles per hour, you realize that if you’re pulled over, the officer won’t even ask you if you know how fast you were going.

At 143 miles per hour, cars moving at 70 miles per hour look as if they are standing still. The slow guy doing 55 mph looks like he’s in reverse.

At 143 miles per hour, your eyes will focus farther towards the horizon because any possible impediment to your progress could carry dire consequences.

At 143 mph you become conscious of changes in the texture of the road, and you become very conscious that tires are mostly air with a very thin layer of rubber. You become aware that “feeling” the road is important as you lay into that gentle turn that suddenly feels like you’re taking a turn at LeMans.

At 143 miles per hour you can feel the traffic around you. You don’t just look ahead of you — you perceive everything around you with a completeness of vision thrust upon you by the awareness that you are moving at “Oh-my-God!”-speed.

At 143 miles per hour, you make it to the wedding on time.