Words from WW Blog

WORDS FROM W.W.                                                                 April 28, 2013

My first words were actually “Oh, crap!”

The flashing lights came on as the Highway Patrol car was approaching me going the other direction. I was heading to my great niece Gracie’s soccer game.

“On my way to see Grace!”

I pulled over to the side of the river road and waited. The Highway Patrol female trooper came up to my passenger side window. I already had my driver’s license in my hand ready to grovel and look financially destitute.

“Did you see those wild turkeys heading up the hillside there?”

Huh? I was expecting “License and registration please.”

“No, I didn’t see them.”

“Yes, several of them”, she added, turning towards the roadside slope to our right. I glanced up the hill and caught sight of the bird moving higher.

“Got an idea of the speed limit on this stretch of road?”

Here it comes.

“Yes. It’s fifty-five, and I believe I was doing sixty-five.”

True confession is good for the soul. For some reason it made my sin seem more plausible, more normal.

“Sixty-seven.”

“Oh!”

“Do you have many problems with speeding?”

“No,” I thought, “it comes natural.” Instead of saying that however I started in on the disclaimers.

“Not usually, but I’m driving my dad’s Buick that has a little more get-up-and-go than my car.”

“What do you drive?”

“A Civic.”

“Oh!”

And then I added “Hybrid!” to further explain my unfamiliarity with a vehicle that actually has engine power.

“Colorado. I’ve got a brother that lives in Colorado.”

“Really! Where at?” This speeding violation is taking an interesting turn in the conversation.

“West of Colorado Springs. He says he can step out his front door and see Pike’s Peak.”

“Woodland Park?”

“I believe that’s it!”

I’m thinking, “Will this take $25 off my traffic ticket?”

“He says half of the time that people get stopped there is because the law enforcement is looking for marijuana…with the whole legalized thing going on.”

“Yes, ma’am!”I reply as I shake my head in a kind of “what’s the world coming to” kind of expression.

“Do you have any relatives in Wheelersburg?” she asked as she surveyed my driver’s license.

“No, ma’am! However, I did grow up in Ironton!”So some reason I thought creating ties with my growing up roots would cancel out my excessive speeding to get to a fourth grade girl’s soccer game.

“Well…Mr. Wolfe, I’m going to give you a warning about your speed today. You need to be careful and go a little bit slower. Okay?”

“I agree. I’ll make sure I’m more careful.”

She took my license and my Dad’s registration back to the cruiser and ran a check on them to make sure I wasn’t a convicted runaway felon on the lam. I waited, knowing that I was, as my grandfather used to say, “Guilty as sin!” Regardless of the power of my Dad’s car, or the justification that driving to my great niece’s soccer game should cancel out breaking the law, or even though I had been in church last Sunday (I had to be. I was giving the sermon!), a blazing pink speeding ticket should have been the rightful ending of the situation.

“Mr. Wolfe, I hope the rest of your visit goes well.”

“Thank you.”

“I can’t believe those wild turkeys. You take care now.”

Thank God for wild turkeys to break the ice in conversation starters between grace-givers and law-breakers.

I slowly made my way to Gracie’s soccer game. I watched her with new eyes, not focused on her missed kicks, or other evidences of not achieving soccer perfection as a ten year old, but rather I focused on the fun she was experiencing playing a game and laughing with her teammates. As some of the adults watching shouted their disappointment in the mistakes of their sons and daughters who were playing on the field, my vision was on a Grace who was giggling. Perhaps I was able to see the upside of her soccer skills a little bit more because I had just experienced grace when I was on the downside.

On the way back to Dad’s place I watched my speedometer…and also saw the wild turkeys.