Passing Gasp

     It is easy to enjoy the beautiful scenery of Montana because there are not a lot of people or buildings around to block the view.  There are also not a lot of four lane highways to speed you mindlessly past God's country.   You tend to think about God a lot when passing other cars on two lane roads.  After all, you might be meeting Him soon.  I don't worry about that much anymore because my Impala is actually able to pass other vehicles, but until recent years that was not the case.
      When our children were growing up, there was no room in our budget for car payments. The secret to not having to make car payments is to drive marginal/crappy cars.  We bought cars that had been previously enjoyed, and enjoyed and enjoyed. . .We could afford to do that because my husband is a mechanic who can fix anything but weather.  With junk yards, spare parts and duct tape, if necessary, he could keep our rigs running.  But not running particularly fast.  On the many drives I made between Kalispell and Missoula to visit family, most of our vehicles couldn't pass an asthmatic tortoise on a downhill.  The discovery of passing lanes has not bypassed Montana, but they are usually on an uphill stretch.  The reason for that is uphill stretches are where the trucks, motor homes, and old coots out for their Sunday drive tend to slow down even more, making them much easier to pass.  Unless you are driving a crappy car.
    After being stuck behind a criminally slow vehicle for miles, I would pull out into the passing lane, stomp on the accelerator, my car would shift into passing gear and my mighty engine would roar to life.  That's it, just roar.  It didn't actually go any faster, it just wanted me to feel good about the effort it was making.  We would continue this charade until the end of the passing lane was approaching, then I would drop back behind Farmer Fred on his Sunday drive.  Apparently my accelerator was simply a volume control for engine noises.
     On my last two cars, however, the accelerator actually made the engine go faster and that removed most of the aerobic aspect of passing on two lane roads.  Now I can use the time driving alone on the highway to pray--for something other than survival, or that the slow vehicle ahead of me would pull over.  Now I can enjoy the beauty of God's country without expecting to run into Him at any moment.  There are easier ways to get an aerobic workout.