Slipstream - September 2001

Sensing
by Charlie Davis
A little voice inside mentioned something about the hour as
I left home, headed for the MineralRing and the 4th Time Trial.
It was before 6:30 AM on a cool, clear Saturday morning...at least
it was cool then...it would be HOT later in the day. I needed an
answer for the voice. In less than a 1/4 mile I drove around a
switch-back in the road, dropped down to cross a small creek,
and drove through a canopy of trees that overhung the road.
There were nice country fragrances everywhere. I had it: "It's nice
early in the morning, with the top off and the windows down!"
As I drove to the track, I went through several more creek
beds and each time, the air temperature dropped several degrees.
Even in the hot summer, it was almost cold. Coupled with that,
was an indescribable aroma...green, wet, and mysterious...almost
primal. This is why I like an open Porsche...one without an air
conditioner! I wonder if others are experiencing this sensual
bonanza in their cars this morning? Certainly there must be
quite a few Porsches on the road, going the same way.
When I got to the Ring, I rode with Rocky Johnson in his
Boxster. Although I was supposed to be showing him where
Course #3 went, we instead talked about how beautiful the early
morning summer weather was and I described my sensory experiences
as I drove out that morning. He said he had also experienced
the same thing as he drove out top down. Besides, Rocky
was not having problems finding the course.
Somehow, you miss a lot when you drive in isolation. Most
of my other cars are ones that we just get in, leave the A/C on, and
drive to town. In the summer, it's hard to choose to pass up modern
comforts, like A/C. But it's often worth it!
For the last 3 years, Teri and I have driven to the Parade in the
914...in the summer...without A/C. It IS hot, but we compensated
by starting early and not driving in the really hot part of the
afternoon...when it gets hot, we find a motel with a pool! But
there are some positive things about this approach. This year, on
the way to Milwaukee, it was some flowers along the roads in
Kansas, Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin. We first really noticed them
in Iowa, because we noticed (and loved) the sweet smell as we
passed a big patch of these flowers on a slope adjacent to the
highway. The aroma was hard to describe. My best description
(one which doesn't do the smell justice) was that it was similar to
some fabric softener sheets? These banks are too steep to mow, so
the states tend to leave them as un-mowed areas and several
varieties of wild flowers seem to thrive there. Heck, the highway
departments may plant them there? They do in Texas. If we had
been in an air conditioned car, we would never have noticed
the aroma of the flowers. They were not that physically beautiful...sort
of a white/pink/purple little wild flower. Never did find
out what the flower was...but we are still researching it with a
friend who lives in Des Moines.
Remember the movie, "The Bridges of Madison County"?
We got hungry in Madison County, Iowa. We left the main
highway and drove a few miles off it into St. Charles, Iowa, which
is the self-proclaimed gateway to these "bridges". There was one
right there in town. We didn't stop to investigate the bridge
because it was lunch time and we were really hungry. Driving
through beautiful, downtown St. Charles, we didn't notice any
restaurants. But we smelled one! We drove around for a while,
taking into account the wind direction, looking for that restaurant.
The whole downtown section of St. Charles wasn't that
big...maybe 10 blocks long and 2-3 blocks the other way. We
drove the entire thing several times. Never did see a "Restaurant",
"Cafe", or similar sign. Still, we could smell FOOD! Finally, Teri
noticed some local people leaving a building with a satisfied look
on their faces and suspected that it was a place to get food. We
parked in front and looked inside. Yep, it was that restaurant we
had been smelling. Seems that they were only 2 days old and their
sign hadn't gotten there yet. The food was good and they asked us
how we liked it. We love small town America! We never would
have found them in our other cars, because we would have had
the A/C on. That little restaurant (it had only ONE table
inside...their patio hadn't been built yet either) wasn't air conditioned
either...but there was a fan and real people inside.
Discover America. Take the back roads when possible. Get
lost? Meet real people. Turn the A/C off. Roll down the windows
and take off your top if you can. Smell things. Feel things.
Experience sensory overload?
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