In The Wind: The Travels Of Lydia Hinshaw

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Lydia Hinshaw and her husband are a retired Florida couple who spend their winters in the Titusville area and their summers in the Great American West working for the National Park Service. You'll find lots of beautiful pictures of wildlife and well-written stories of their travels at In the Wind and I find it to be a nice respite from the political blogs that I usually find myself immersed in.

Ms. Hinshaw and her husband, Prince Charming, recently visited St. Augustine Beach and observed an unusual pedestrian safety device.

On a trip two counties north to this beach community, we found several crosswalks across A1A (major beach road) that were equipped with orange flags, three or four of them in a special holder on each side of the busy four-lane street. If you want to cross, you can wave a flag in the air to signal your intention. You can even keep waving it as you carry it across and then leave it in the flag-holder on the other side. The Prince couldn't wait to try this out. He stood there and waved a flag and sure enough, a driver duly came to a stop short of the crosswalk. We didn't take the flag with us, but we did cross without fear.

She wonders how long the flags stick around before they are stolen and also notes the differences in the driving habits of those here in Florida and folks out West.

In the Western states where we spend the hot and humid part of the year, drivers are much more alert and considerate and will stop if you even look like you might be thinking of crossing the street sometime in the next hour. And they never seem put out, much less enraged, that someone on foot needs to get somewhere.

Indeed.

But don't let the natives hear you complain or you'll get instructed to "get on I-95 and head north," or worse. The same natives who have spent their entire lives in Florida and have no idea that there are places in this country where you really don't have to be rude, surly or boorish behind the wheel in order to get to where you're going.

Anyway, I encourage you to bookmark In the Wind if you enjoy nice, peaceful places in the blogosphere with beautiful outdoor images.



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