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March 13, 2005

driving around on a saturday

It was around noon yesterday that my friend Mrs. du K…* and I embarked on a fabulous journey out of the city. Last week, her mom went on a trip, leaving her car to her daughter’s vigilance. And we have been talking about road trips ever since, checking maps and weather predictions.

As we prepare to go, we see the weather is indeed seasonal, with flurries and abundant slush. I lace my boots tightly, find some shoe polish in the gloves compartment, then cue “Kill surf city” and “U-Mass” and a couple other old tapes, not able to stop smiling.

In close to 5 years of friendship, we never shared a road trip together, memorable taxi rides not counting, and always wanted to set sail. I already know she won’t let me drive, but I accept with gratitude the tape player and the windshield wiper’s responsibility. “Do you even have a license?” I asked this, not her. “I do”, answers my friend. “It’s very safely kept. Don’t worry.”

And she does drive like a pro! one hand on the wheel, the other in her mouth, biting her nails. We ride around for a while, following our apparently circular inspiration, then back from the start, we finally decide upon a destination – the palindromic suburb of Laval and it legendary ruins, gigantic shopping complexes and space shuttle-shaped children day camp, all the way over the Autoroute 40 Ouest, or is it 15 North? This will be clarified later.

How great is my friend’s skilled and courteous driving way..! Upon every red light, every stop sign, we lively discuss the music and the weather until every last car around, every last pedestrian is safely out of sight and all the cars behind us start their cheerful honking. Her flair for shortcuts also allows us access to many, seldom admired dead-end streets and parking galores that at first looked like streets leading somewhere.

We reach the shores of Laval by mid-afternoon, head for the closest mall, and step inside requesting lodging and food. The ride has invigorated us, and the shopping crowds which usually make me dazed now just make me silly… We point at things and gimmicks as if we came from another time, observe how unattractive they are, and walk back to the car before our parking space fades into memory.

K.* drives us safely home for more food and drink and we watch a movie but feel the road trip isn’t over, so around 9, we head back outside. All this ice to scrape off proves so worthwhile! This time we explore Côte-des-Neiges and its wonderful old brick houses and curvy roads, we slowly circle Polytechnique with all lights out, until there is only one way left, a path thickly cushioned with snow, up to the observatory.

And from there the city looks so small, so familiar, yet impossible to embrace at once, at once a warming, frustrating sensation.

Posted by nathalie at March 13, 2005 1:57 PM