alert

I live pretty healthfully.

I sleep pretty well, ok, I supplement restless nights with regular naps.

I eat well, lots of whole grains with fruits and vegetables. We are vegetarians, so no red meat issues.

Just do life pretty carefully.

But one really dangerous thing I do a lot: I drive a car.

Yesterday we drove 250 miles to be at “Grandparents day” at the school two of our grandkids attend, and I got to remembering.

As I have driven, through the years, I have come across scores of accidents. Some horrific, mind searing visions of hell, some just fender benders. But, more often than not, it is a one car accident where, quite obviously, the car just drove off the road. Out here in the west there are a lot of straight stretches, with a lot of really boring roads. Don't get me wrong I love the deserts, but driving through them at legal speeds is a bit mind numbing after a while.

I read that those accidents are caused by sleep depravation. The driver just went to sleep and drifted off the pavement. The results can be quite fatal.

So, I have a rule. No amount of healthful living will counter a car accident. Those things happen so fast and so permanently that they are hard to schedule. So, no matter what it takes I stay awake when I drive, I do it. I drive defensively, I work hard to drive carefully, but most of all I will do whatever it takes to stay awake.

That might involve taking a nap now and again. It might involve taking a quantity of caffein, and since my normal caffein intake is pretty low, it doesn’t take much to keep me buzzing. If I drove great distances every day, this would not work, obviously, but again the key is staying awake.

It’s sorta like birthdays. My next one is 71, not a comforting number, but it beats the alternative. My dad never got to 30, I am reminded. The process of staying awake is difficult sometimes, but it sure beats the alternative.