Why Is It?

Yesterday it rained heavily here. Our house is on a dirt road that turns to muck every time it rains. I had to make a trip to the post office which meant driving down the muddy road. As I was carefully negotiating around the mushier parts of the road and the puddles, it suddenly occurred to me that how odd my driving was. My car is eleven and a half years old with its left rear quarter panel damaged from an accident and it was definitely not clean to begin with. So why was I taking such great care to avoid the muck and puddles?

We all have certain conditioned behaviors that are not necessarily bad, but really do not make much sense. Avoiding mud and puddles in an already dirty car is apparently one of mine. I laugh when I think about it. I also laugh at a certain other behaviors that fall into that same "why is it" category.

One of the oddest and one that I cannot explain to myself involves the Suwannee River which is a major river here in Florida. The Suwannee River is a very picturesque river that inspired Stephen Foster to write a song about it, even though it is said that he never saw it. Every year, there is a major music festival held in White Springs at the Stephen Foster Folk Center on the Suwannee River.

The Suwannee runs north and south from the Georgia line to the Gulf of Mexico, just north of Cedar Key on Florida's west coast, thus bisecting Florida. I live in the northern part of the state and west of the river, so every time I travel south, I must cross the Suwannee River. There is no getting around it regardless of the route I choose.

While I love the Suwannee River, for some unexplained reason, I am always feel compelled to lift my feet off the floor whenever I cross it. I have been doing this as long as I can remember and I haven't a clue as to why. Like trying to keep the mud off an already dirty car, this is one of those "why is it" things. Harmless, yet curious.