Just Make It Up the Hill
Driving the stick shift of determination…
Just make it up
Just make it up the hill.
This is what I told myself when I was stuck halfway between the bottom and the top of my driveway. I was 14 or 15 years old and didn’t have my license, yet. I was a farm kid, so it wasn’t unusual for me to be driving before turning sixteen.
A lot of practice happens between driving all the tractors, trucks, and other farm equipment. Through the fields on different farms, I learned to drive a manual transmission. These fields provided the perfect locations for learning.
Mostly flat, mildly muddy, and, thankfully, no one watching. Of course, starting out there were the jerky movements and lurches that come with the territory. Letting out the clutch at the same time as pressing the gas is a delicate balance every human should know.
However, you figure it out. You learn that perfect balance that moves you forward.
On this particular day, I was driving, even though my older brother (by six years), had hopped in the large, jacked-up farm truck with me. We had pulled back into the driveway of the house from the farm. The driveway goes up a mountain in an ‘S’ shape. Starting at the bottom and then curving your way to the top of the hill.
