Memorable drive # 3

New York City, 1973. I’m running an errand for my employer (a parcel to take to New Haven). I’m driving his car.

So, up the Taconic Parkway we go. I use the royal “we”. It’s the least I can do when at the wheel of a brand new Chrysler Imperial.

On my way back to New York, it’s dark already, and I’m going down Park Avenue. From its Northern end, I can see the whole of the Avenue waving up and down gently. It’s dotted with dozens of street lights, and that’s when a sort of magic ballet commences : if you stay at exactly 30mph, you always go through green lights. There are angels opening doors for you. As you get to the top of a gentle slope, you can see, far away, lights turning red, then further even, other lights turning green. This in itself, is exhilarating, but when the radio starts playing Waldteufel’s Valse des Patineurs, it becomes an enchantment. It is broken when I have to turn left on 84^th Street and on to Gracie Square, but it remains an unforgettable moment of sights and sounds.