TEACHING MAMA TO DRIVE

In 1932, the road from Poor Town to Earleys Station was straight, flat and two miles long. Like all the other rural roads in Hertford County, it was dirt, ditched on each side to drain rain water from the center portion.

When there was no rain, the center developed hard washboard ridges perpendicular to the line of traffic, which collected dust in their valleys and added a jittery luster to the journey as the hard tires and wagon wheels of the day bounced over their peaks.

It was on this road one summer day that Boweaver's daddy announced he was going to teach Boweaver's mother Nora to drive his Whippet.

There were four of the kids then, the oldest girl 10 and the youngest boy two, but baby-sitting posed no problem. Courtesy of many uncles and aunts, the brood had numerous cousins scattered throughout the county.

One family of them lived right at the road exactly halfway between Poor Town and Earleys. Here Cap'n Fred deposited the children, and with their mama in the passenger seat, drove toward Earleys with a parting warning to them to stay away from the middle of the road.

The four of them, several of their cousins and their aunt gathered near the ditchbank, looking excitedly down the road for the cloud of dust they knew would herald their mama's big adventure.

And there she came, careening wildly from side to side down the road several feet ahead of the airborne earth. When she passed them she must have been doing at least 30 miles an hour, and they caught a glimpse of her tense face and taut arms, with her hands tied in a death-grip to the big steering wheel.

They all cheered and gave a big sigh of relief as they watched the dust cloud disappear from view in the direction of Poor Town, and relaxed for awhile to await the return.

In a very few minutes one of the kids gave a loud yell, and they all re-assembled at the ditch bank to watch the second coming from the other direction.

There was the same wildly veering display of speed, the same tense face and rigid grip on the wheel, closely followed by the billowing airborne particles.

They clapped and cheered mightily as the Whippet again faded from view.

It was probably 20 minutes or so before it returned.

This time Cap'n Fred was driving, and Nora was sitting quietly in the passenger seat. They pulled over to the edge of the road and stopped. The children said goodbye to their cousins and aunt and piled in.

Neither Fred nor Nora spoke a word on the way back home to Poor Town.

Neither ever again mentioned the eventful day in the presence of their offspring.

But for whatever reason, Boweaver knew that that day in 1932 was the only day in his life that he ever saw his mother behind the steering wheel of an automobile.

~~~
This isn't Fred's Whippet. Man in background
is Fred's brother Ike, and this
is his convertible.