Driving Miss Da

(Photo: Steve Bennett)

Have you ever suffered a mental blank about something that you tend to easily know about at any other time?

Once every six weeks we take the members of our Day Centre out for a picnic. The members are driven to the picnic site by bus accompanied by the Centre Manager and Assistant Manager. Da, the other volunteer, and I drive there in my car separately from the buses. Although Da drives herself to and from the Centre for the day's work she has fallen into the habit of coming in my car to the picnics. This means that even if the picnic is in the opposite direction from my home I have to return her to the Centre afterwards so she can pick up her car.

Da started coming in my car after she was widowed. I believe this was part of her plan to snap me up as husband number 2 and she has continued to do so out of habit even though I hope that she finally accepts this gay man is not inclined to heterosexual marriage.

These return journeys are a slight annoyance for me but far more irritating is the mindless chatter Da engages in the instant we drive off until we reach the destination.

The venue for the latest picnic was Lane Cove National Park which has a delightful picnic area suitable for elderly, less mobile people like our Day Centre members. You might think that Lane Cove National Park would be located in the suburb of Lane Cove but it is not. Departing the Day Centre you have to turn into the exact opposite direction from the suburb to get to the Park. We have picnicked there before and I am well aware of its location. Da should know its location too as she drives past it to and from the Centre for work.

I set off for the Park with Da chattering away and for the next ten minutes tried to effect polite attention whilst in reality shutting her from my mind. All the while road signage indicated we were heading for Lane Cove but my mind was a blank with Da chatting endlessly in the background. After a while it dawned on me that I was driving in the wrong direction but my mind was still a blank and unable to make me think of the correct way to the Park. I could picture the location in my mind but over Da's chatter I simply could not retrieve the information to adjust my route.

Finally I turned to Da and told her that I felt I was going in the wrong direction and asked her opinion of how to get to the Park from where we were. To my amazement Da said that she had no idea of how to get to the Park and that she had no idea where the Park was even though she drives past it every week. How could she not know? Perhaps she even bores herself silly with idle chatter so that she doesn't take in her surroundings.

Thankfully just as I was thinking those dastardly thoughts my brain finally clicked into gear and I realised where I was and what I needed to do to get to our destination. Da didn't miss a beat and kept on gossiping.

By the time we got to the Park, the members had been unloaded, seated and served and they were well into the picnic lunch.