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Driving Convertibles, Living In Community

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By DEREK MAUL | The Brandon News

Published: April 17, 2007

I just discovered I've been living a seriously deprived life but didn't know it. Somehow I managed to live 50 years without owning a convertible. I know, it's a sad situation and I'll probably need therapy one day, but there you are.

I started out behind in the count as I grew up in England. The only open tops in evidence when I learned to drive were motorbikes piloted by damp, squishy people who wore heavy rain gear and sneezed all the time.

Then last month I found enlightenment. We went to California and the woman at Avis asked me if I'd like an upgrade. The additional cost was almost nothing. So I drove off the lot in a 2007 Ford Mustang with the top down and tooled into San Francisco listening to the Eagles at top volume, grinning from ear to ear.

It was 58 degrees of sunshine and stayed that way pretty much all week. That's why they invented leather jackets and that's why they invented the Pacific Coast Highway (Route 1). It's also why they invented visors and caps, but I didn't think about that. Consequently I managed to get rookie convertible driver's sunburn my first day out.

The other thing about car rentals in the big city is parking. At my hotel I paid an extra $30 a night. So the day we didn't drive anywhere I walked outside, put the top down and sat in the car for 10 minutes just to get my money's worth.

Out on the streets I'd never seen so many hybrid vehicles all in one place. Even the buses were zero-emission and I appreciated the lack of toxic fumes at the long stoplights. I couldn't taste any exhaust even in the worst traffic, but it didn't stop me cranking out some of my own as I did my best Steve McQueen and left them in the dust. It was my week in a Mustang and all I could taste was speed.

The drive across the Golden Gate Bridge and up to Point Reyes National Seashore simply begged for the top down. It's 100 percent true that the best experiences become exponentially enhanced when you're with someone you love and my wife, Rebekah, and I proved that fact with a long hike through Muir Woods and an amazing drive out to the peninsular and the lighthouse at Point Reyes.

That evening we ate great seafood on San Francisco Bay at Sausalito, watching the sun go down over the Golden Gate. The moment was an inspirational juxtaposition of creation and creativity, and so the blessing at the beginning of the meal was not the only time the Creator joined the spirit and the conversation around that intimate table.

The night was cool when we returned to the city but the top stayed down.

What we discovered at Alcatraz was no less profound. We were reminded that the opposite of creativity is destruction and that people are quite capable of constructing their own variety of hell.
"Some nights we could hear music and sounds of life from San Francisco," one former inmate's voice reported on the audio tour.

"Life was right there, just a mile and a half away."

Today Alcatraz is closed as a penitentiary, yet too many people still exile themselves into voluntary isolation or move just beyond the reach of love, companionship, community and healing.

There's a lot to be said for sharing this journey with fellow travelers who will love us unconditionally no matter what. Be it a glorious ride in a Mustang convertible, a walk in Muir Woods, difficulties faced in our daily routines or the pain of broken relationships. We were created to live in community. We fare much better when we know without question that we are not alone.

It's made me think about the lonely kind of pain that drove meteorologist John Winter to end his life two weeks ago. I know that many people experience that kind of anguish on a regular basis. Suffering and grief are an ongoing part of life. I understand that, but I believe with all of my heart that no one ever has to face anything alone.

"And be sure of this," Jesus said, "I am with you always."

Derek Maul is a writer who lives in Valrico. You can reach him at derekmaul@gmail.com.

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