It's wintery today without any snow. The temperature is frigid and I am glad not to be in a hurry now. Taking Nora soon to take her written test to get her driver's learning permit. A certain milestone for me. I think of my father, who personally introduced all five of us to the responsibilities and perils of driving. Luckily for me, he was a good focussed driver- so I had an excellent teacher. I do remember being around 11 and driving back from Hebrew school with my father and my brother Frank- who must have been around 18 at the time. Dad was trying to teach Frank how to shift the gears on the car which my parents had recently acquired. It was a Renault Gordini that they had purchased for an excursion abroad. They used it for their trip and then shipped it home. I thought it was very classy of them to have such a novel idea. The car with its bug shape and sunroof in silver seemed very cool and European. My poor brother literally made the car jump as he figured out how to put in the clutch and shift the gears at the same time. My father did not lose his cool once. I wonder what kind of passenger I will be while my daughter is at the wheel.