Today is “Cruisin’ Downriver”. It is the 17^th year for this annual event, a downsized copycat of the granddaddy of them all – the Woodward Dream Cruise.

It’s an all-day affair, and, between the cruisers and the car enthusiasts, some 300,000 people will have taken to the streets in four Downriver communities (Lincoln Park, Wyandotte, Southgate and Riverview) before the sun goes down.

It is an event, that, if you’re not a vintage or classic car enthusiast, you might want to stay off Fort Street as it tends to get a little crazy.

I always plan around the cruise so my car stays in the garage, but, today I had to take it out.

My week was a little out of the ordinary … not just the agenda of walking if possible, coming home and then plunking down in front of the computer for work.

First, I had a yearly allergist visit on Thursday. It is a mandatory appointment to review your allergy symptoms and is also a mini physical to boot.  So, I passed with flying colors.  In fact, Dr. Shah gave me an “atta girl” for being healthy, having a good blood pressure reading and walking the 718 miles in 2015.  In fact, he told me “Linda, if all my patients were as healthy as you, I’d be out of business” … so I preened just a little about my good health and his compliment all the way home.

On Friday, I went to the eye doctor – not so great there. Along with the regular eye charts, Dr. Dearing tested my eyes by using computer images (Optomap).  This is great as dilation drops are not necessary, thus no blurriness and I’m good to go as soon as the exam is done.  Just as I expected, my eyes were worse than last year and I needed stronger lenses.  So, I asked “too much computer time ya think?” and the answer was “well, yes … step away from the computer to take breaks and remember to blink more … uh, it also could be your age”  – age … well, that was a tough pill to swallow, so I was a little less smug about my visit with Dr. Dearing than Dr. Shah.  Since I had anticipated needing a stronger prescription and thus new lenses, I took along a spare pair of glasses with a prescription from three or four years ago.  I paid and left with the expectation that the updated spectacles would arrive in about ten days.

I drove home, stopping for an errand or two along the way, then parked the car in the garage (never an easy feat as there is only about four inches of space on either side of the car). I then went inside the house.  No problems – I could see perfectly.  I could see all my parts (smile) and shame on me if, at sixty years old, I don’t know where everything is.  I could see Buddy.  I could see the computer.  But, when I looked on the screen, everything was a blur.  I shut one eye … then the other eye.  It reminded me of when I first needed bifocals about ten years ago while I still wore contact lenses.  My contact lens practitioner did his best to experiment with “readers” and other remedies, ‘til we finally settled on monovision – one eye had a contact for distance, the other had a contact for close-up – presto … I could see again.

Well, I stared at the screen and even enlarged the document to 140%. I moved my head back as far as I could, feeling like a chicken as I rotated my neck back and forth.  I even chuckled to myself as I remembered laughing at my mother as she struggled to read a menu one time with her outstretched arm.  She finally gave up and handed the menu to me to read the items off to her.  Guess the laugh’s on me now Mom.

I called the eye doctor’s office later in the day and told her “better make a brand-new pair of glasses and I’ll find my way over there through the cruisin’ crowd and pick up my current glasses – I simply cannot wait ten days to see clearly again!”

This morning dawned beautiful, so, I thought about walking to Lesnick Optical, an easy four-mile roundtrip for me, but I figured there was just too much traffic to be on foot on Downriver’s busiest and most-congested traffic day of the year.

But, before I made that pit stop to retrieve my spectacles, I was revved up and rarin’ to go at 7:15 a.m. I got in a four-mile walk, pounding the pavement with my feet, instead of rolling along on four wheels.  Believe me, I stayed far away from the maddening crowd, which, at a glance, I could see was already assembling along Fort Street, reclining in webbed lounge chairs or hunkered under canopies.  Though I had my camera in hand, (just in case a cool car happened by on the Boulevard), nothing classic crossed my path.  All I saw was a baby bunny, and he bolted before I could get the camera in focus.

While driving home from the eye doctor, as I neared my street, I merged into the queue of classic cars which were already meandering along Fort Street. I was thinking how boring I was with the window rolled up, the A/C on and listening WWJ news.  I wasn’t revving my engine in a ragtop, listening to tunes from back in the day or burning rubber!

I stopped by Memorial Park to check out “Ponies in the Park”, a collection of classic Mustangs from all eras. These ponies were hardly the velvety-soft type that are fueled by oats instead of gasoline, and which nicker softly as you approach.  These Mustangs, from a range of years, were gleaming and polished to perfection … not a dent or a chip nor a scratch or a smudge on any of them.

Alas, all these vintage models were timeless, and not weathered by the years, unlike this writer.

Feelin’ nostalgic about the song “Jeepers Creepers”?

Jeepers Creepers.

Where’d you get those peepers?

Jeepers creepers.

Where’d you get those eyes?”

Check out the song here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0lgswGOgrs

[Image is called “Old Timer” by 43833 from Pixabay]