Susanna J. Sturgis   Martha's Vineyard writer and editor
writer editor born-again horse girl

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January License Plate Report

January 31, 2007

After months of nothing new to report, it's satisfying to be racking up the plates again: 23, all told, just under half the total and two fewer than I saw in January 2006. In order of sighting:

Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire, California, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Rhode Island, Florida, Colorado, Maine, Vermont, Virginia, New Jersey, Idaho, Minnesota, Missouri, D.C., Michigan, Indiana, Oregon, Utah, and Maryland

Nothing too out of the ordinary there: the Northeast, the East Coast, and the West Coast are usually filled in first (on my map, that is). Last year I spotted Oklahoma in January -- that was a coup -- and Minnesota didn't show up till April.

The number of different plates may be down, but the traffic sure isn't. Rush hours are discernible even in January: trying to make a left turn onto the Edgartown-Vineyard Haven Road around 5 p.m. can be a pain in the butt. The big argument for traffic lights, I've learned over the years, is that they guarantee that you'll eventually get through the intersection. It may seem like forever, but it isn't. With no such guarantee -- well, when I reach a certain exasperation point I take risks that I know are stupid even when I'm in flagrante, so to speak. I peel out knowing that if Uhura stalls or I've misjudged the speed of an oncoming vehicle I could get broadsided.

Rhodry isn't the kind of passenger who gasps when the driver commits a stupidity. Probably just as well. I try to be the kind of driver my dog thinks I am.

 

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