It was a perfect spring day. A hint of coolness in the air, but with a warm sun
beaming down to awaken the earth after winter, and to remind us that summer
does come.
I had some errands to run, and when I got in the car I opened the sunroof.
This is the first (and only) car I’ve ever had with a sunroof, and I have to say I don’t use it as much as I thought I would. The main reason for this is that there is
a dirty little secret about the sunroof: it lets the sun in. I found I usually
don’t like to drive around with the sun beating in on me.
I have no idea why this drawback didn’t occur to me before I got a car with a sunroof.
But, anyway, on this day the sunroof was nice.
The radio was on, and a good song came on. I turned up the radio, and, because
the sun was beating in on me, I put on some shades.
So there I was, driving along, wearing shades, singing along with the radio,
feeling cool. There was no doubt in my mind that anybody seeing me at that
moment would think, almost reflexively, “That guy is cool.”
Some things began to occur to me.
• The shades were allowing me to see everything really clearly, and I realized
this was because they are prescription progressive bifocal sunglasses.
• The song I was enjoying on the radio was an Al Stewart number dating from the
Carter Administration.
• My car with the seldom-used sunroof is a decade-old Volvo wagon.
• The shopping list in my pocket, the reason behind the errands, was that I
needed to buy some items related to an upcoming colonoscopy.
And so I drove along on this perfect spring day, the sun glinting on my shades,
singing along to “Time Passages” on the radio, I smiled a little to myself. One more delusional middle-aged guy,
trying to cling to lost youth.
Then I had a second thought: “I don’t care. I’m still cool.”
Get the NAC
Several writers from VUMC’s office of News and Communications (NAC) have started a blog, called “Get the NAC.”
The blog will be updated several times weekly, and will contain comments on the
news and behind-the-scenes information about upcoming stories. We plan to stop
short of libel, slander or obscenity, but anything else is fair game.
