Driving on the Mind

If we who live modern lives are good at something, it should be driving, for we do so much of it. In the nearly ten years that I've been driving now, I cannot think of any other single activity that has occupied so much of my time. Should it surprise me that I can watch the side-view mirrors without explicit thought, to develop an almost tactile feel for the space around my car? Only the most devoted athlete or musician spends as much time at her avocation as many of us do behind the wheel.