DeeDoo’s Digital Scrapbooking Blog

Sunday evening about 7 PM I was driving north on Interstate 35 in Oklahoma. Traffic is unbelievable along that highway, a never-ending ribbon of headlights behind you and taillights ahead of you, with a mirror image on the parallel highway heading south and on into Texas. This is one of the major thoroughfares for those of us who make trips back and forth between Texas and Oklahoma. The speed limit is 70 and 75 MPH for most of the highway, and that’s how fast the ‘slow’ traffic travels. Others pass the ‘turtles’ and almost leave them spinning in their wake. Needless to say, there are numerous accidents on this road, many of which result in fatalities.

With all of this in mind I approach driving on I-35 with caution, but this Sunday evening the driving conditions seemed particularly hazardous. The cold front that descended upon our State earlier in the day had dropped the temperature 38 degrees within a four-hour period, and the wind that ushered that front into the State was still blowing—hard. Gusts were clocked at 40 MPH in some areas, and for drivers traveling at 70 MPH Plus, a gust of wind that strong can create some ‘interesting’ situations.

I am still marveling that I didn’t encounter even one accident scene, nor did I experience any ‘close calls’ during my drive. It was just luck, because some of the drivers of giant SUVs and pickups continued to ride anyone’s bumper who dared to travel a mere 75 MPH, regardless of which lane they were in or how many cars were ahead of them! They just bore down on you with their headlights glaring into your smaller vehicle and remained almost touching your back bumper until someone in either lane would finally be able to move over, allowing them to pass on by. I totally expected to see one of the SUVs or pickups rolled over with wheels spinning as I caught up to them over some hill in the distance, but it never happened.

For about 30 minutes of the drive there was a pelting on the windshield that sounded just like a strong sleet storm. Only thing, there was no sleet, no raindrops. It was tiny particles of dirt and sand pelting away, stirred up from the ground by the fierce wind and flung into the air, finally stopped by the windshield. I was relieved when it stopped, because I could envision the hood of my car without any paint left, and the picture wasn’t pretty.

Sand can be a good thing, though. It can even be used to produce beautiful art. Maybe you will agree with me that Ferenc Cako is a very talented sand artist after you watch this video. In it (watch out, it’s 9 minutes long!), Mr. Cako tells the story of Adam and Eve using sand drawings. Start it and at least watch a couple of minutes. It’s humbling and thrilling to see the talent some people are sharing with the world.

Here is another long one by Cako called ‘Spring’ set to the music of Vivaldi: