One afternoon, we moved a broken taillight that somehow got through the chain link fence near where Willie Mae “Big Mama” Thornton rests. The literal whiff of mortality reminds you — and by you, I mean Sebastian — how much is at stake at the helm of 3,000 pounds of gleaming Prius. After four or five visits and a few dozen bone orchard circuits, I moved on to the interior game. Driving among the dearly departed lays the groundwork for those deeper lessons, too. On the 405 freeway, if someone cuts you off, the kneejerk reaction is to rage, high beams flashing, fingers extended.

Source: International New York Times October 16, 2020 09:00 UTC