I was driving around today, running a bunch of errands, enjoying the sunshine, and randomly taking in the messages on the big billboards along the way.

It seemed like a lot of the billboards carried advertisements for beer of some kind or another, and this intrigued me. I mean, I don’t know why it would surprise me to see so many big ads for beer, maybe I haven’t been paying attention or something. Beer is not something I pay much attention to (no offense anyone).

And then I got to thinking about the Sobriety Campout and PowWow that I am going to next week, and of course then I got to thinking about how AA really does save lives.

And in the course of my errands I saw two police cars, which got me to reflecting on an article I read yesterday about the high incidence of law enforcement officers who when stopped at the side of the road are accidentally struck by an intoxicated driver. Some officers call it the “moth effect”—drivers drawn to the stopped patrol car, like a moth to a flame. In motorcycle racing we always called this, target fixation—how the vehicle we are steering seems to be drawn in the direction we are looking.

Anyway, I was thinking about law enforcement and intoxicated drivers, and how much less stress I have in my life now while I am not drinking—I never have to weigh whether or not I am “impaired”. I never have to navigate the poor judgment and physical incompetence that comes with intoxication. And really, it’s a wonderful freedom to not have to do that kind of policing of my state of mind and being.

And then there’s the pure monetary benefit that comes with not drinking. I haven’t added it up, but let’s just pretend real quick that I had been drinking a $10.00 bottle of wine every week plus two cocktails while out on the town … that would be about $1,200.00 that I have not spent since I quit drinking last summer. $1,200.00 savings—about what it costs for everything to keep my zippy yellow car on the road for a year!

Out driving around here and there today. Top down on the car. AMAZING sky.

Photos: by me, shot on an iPhone with Hipstamatic app in and around Ballard, Seattle, WA