Took a road trip yesterday to the Owen Lovejoy Homestead (historic site). Lovejoy was a minorly famous Abolitionist before the Civil War. Good docents--retired teachers from the Princeton, IL, public schools. Interesting old expanded cabin. "Middle class living" in Illinois farm country in the 1840's and '50's, although not as lush as Abe Lincoln's place in Springfield. If you think about the land use and architecture in the context of Mount Vernon and Monticello, you can see how the Civil War came about.
Made the mistake of taking a fellow history buff with me. He interrupted the docents constantly, raised his voice, insisted on being the Smartest Guy In The Room (there were 4 of us).
Bigger mistake: he is an Old Woman when it comes to performance driving. Sucked in his breath, applied nonexistent brakes in his footwell, called upon his savior at least twice (he's an agnostic). Asked me if it was really true that I had really never had a serious road accident. Regaled me with stories Blood On The Pavement (he used to teach drivers' ed) and deer jumping out in front of me (they have).
Never again will this dude shotgun. My Civic Si begs to go out and play when the roads get hilly and twisty. I was driving 6/7-10's--didn't even get into the ABS. He was terrified, I was increasingly pissed. We'd written the screenplay for this movie before. This trip honed it to its denoument. He claims to like cars--he declaimed about cars when we walked "cruise nights,"(annoying me, the docent, as between us). He must like them as cultural artifacts--he sure doesn't enjoy them for their capabilities.
3 comments:
Sounds like your sister.
Except that she doesn't talk over and interrupt docents ;-).
Mom would have smacked me upside my head!
Post a Comment