It's a Twister, It's a Twister

One day back in the mid-90s, I was driving an old ’84 Honda Accord up to San Antonio from Corpus Christi. I was heading north on I-37, just coming up to the ramp that merges Texas 358 into the fast lane of I-37 northbound lanes. It was drizzling. I was in the middle of three lanes doing 70-75MPH.

Next thing ya know, a big, duely, flatbed Chevy with a welding machine on it (against the back of the cab) is sliding off the 358-to-I37N ramp sorta sideways. Not much I could do at that point.

The truck hit the rear left quarterpanel of my car and sent me into a 70MPH spin. Reminded me, in retrospect, of the “It’s a twister, it’s a twister” scene from Airplane. when I finally came to a halt, I was on the center median, in a shallow ravine between the northbound and southbound lanes.

I pounded the steering wheel a couple of times, furious that I’d just been whacked. I got out and walked, way-too-calmly, to the dude who hit me. He had his wife and two kids in the cab.

“What happened man?”
“I don’t know. I just started sliding.” [No shit dumbass. It’s raining]
“You guys okay?”
“Yeah, we’re okay, but I lost the welding machine off my truck.”
[He pointed across the highway at the overpass I’d just spun over]
“You better go make sure it didn’t crush someone.”
[It had flown off his truck and over the overpass]

I went back to my car, and reached in for my smokes. When I pulled them out my hands were shaking. Ditto when I lit the smoke, one of the best smokes I’d ever had. We waited for cops. I spoke to witnesses.

Amazingly, the little Honda survived (but ended up “totaled” in the end). The truck did not. It was loaded on a flatbed and hauled away. I got some strange satisfaction out of knowing that my little, reliable Honda survived to make an attempt at the150 mile ride home.

When it was all over, I hit the road. I drove in a surreal haze, very aware that I could have died in that accident had I left work a few short seconds earlier (I would’ve been hit dead center and most likely pushed into the concrete retaining wall and perhaps off the overpass).

When I called to inform The Warden, she reminded me that we had a bowling league that night, and said we could cancel if I didn’t feel up to it. I told her I’d be fine.
And so we bowled...and drank beer, and had fun with our friends. I was still in the haze, and strangely very calm; like everything I did, said and thought was in slow motion. I drank a LOT of beer, but didn’t get drunk. I bowled my ass off that night: two-fifty-something, the best game I’ve ever had.

Memory Du Jour:
See Above

Quote of the Day:
"I think it's really important for this great state of baseball to reach out to people of all walks of life to make sure that the sport is inclusive. The best way to do it is to convince little kids how to—the beauty of playing baseball." —George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Feb. 13, 2006