Driving in Wisconsin

Being in Wisconsin is synonymous for me with “driving in the car”.  Some years it has actually felt like I spent more time in the car than I did in any of the places I drove to. (Slight exaggeration.)  There is one majorly good thing about driving around Wisconsin – the radio!

Naturally, there are multiple public radio stations in Wisconsin so you never find yourself without that option on your dial.  As you know, all the public radio voices sound exactly alike, so it isn’t hard to know, as you scan through the stations, when you have hit upon a public radio station.  (My question is:  Do the stations hire them because they have that voice, or do they develop that voice once they get on the air?) I am really a fan of “All Things Considered” so when I am lucky enough to be in the car when that is on – I am probably listening to it.  Great cocktail party conversationalists know the value of ATC!

But secretly, my real joy when I am driving and listening to the radio is to find a classic rock station.  Talk about a trip back in time!  The years melt away.  Other drivers may look and see this “woman of a certain age” belting out songs and bopping around as she barrels down the highway, but in my car there is only that 18 year-old heartfully (yes, I made that word up) singing the songs that defined her teenage years.

And, thank God for cruise control!  I don’t know about you, but the louder I play the radio, the harder my foot presses down on the gas, and before I know it, I have a speeding ticket!  (Actually it only happened to me once, and in Puerto Rico.  It was a Sunday morning coming home from church, for crying out loud.)

Cruise control means I set the speed so that I don’t need to use that lead foot on the pedal, and instead can use it to keep time to the Rolling Stones, Bad Company, the Eagles, the Byrds and all the other great rock bands of the 60s and 70s.  Drive on!