View from the Cab: Riding memories

By Kent Casson

Does anyone take a Sunday drive anymore?

Growing up, Mom would often take us on a drive around the countryside Sunday afternoons and my grandmother would often ride along. This seems to be a distant memory now but I look back fondly on those times cruising up and down the paved and gravel roads to see some rural scenery.

Living in an area with open fields and square miles, it was a treat to cruise by all of the timber land south of Fairbury where the roads were curvy and the deer were plentiful. We’d often spot many deer out in the field along with other forms of wildlife.

One drive led us to see presidential candidates waving from the back of a train rolling through Pontiac in 2000 and another went past the old coal mines around Toluca as we headed over to Mona’s Italian Restaurant to have Sunday lunch each Mother’s Day.

I recall the conversations by the adults in the car of “who lived there” or “who grew up in that place.” Plenty of stories were shared and I was all ears, even at a young age. I guess I have always appreciated the connections to the past and we all know parents and grandparents are full of old stories.

These drives could last for hours since we would travel south of Fairbury and head all the way back around Chenoa and even farther to see what was going on in the country. The roads were usually quiet and activity in the country was at a minimum, unless of course it was planting or harvest season.

Two sights I fondly recall from the car window are fall colors and newly-emerged corn and soybean fields. There’s just something special about those times of the year for scenery.

I recall still taking Sunday drives after I got my learner’s permit and license so I could be the one to choose the route. Those hours spent behind the wheel on a relaxing Sunday afternoon served as the perfect “reset” for the week ahead.

Now I can’t believe our son is taking us out driving. Kasen has his learner’s permit and the countdown is on until he turns 16 this fall. How can this boy drive already? He was just a baby yesterday it seems.

I am reminded of the old Alan Jackson song, “Drive” when the singer recalls his own time driving back in the day before his daughters later take the wheel to drive.

Safe travels!