FEBRUARY 14, MONDAY

FEBRUARY 14, MONDAY

CAUGHT, COMING TO A TOWN NEAR YOU

When Susie came to visit Germany in November for two weeks we went to a car rental place in Celle to try and rent a car for a week. It was very expensive, almost $1000 for a week. We were shocked because in Greece we rented a car for a week for about $250 and drove everywhere. But seeing that it was not to be we had a great walk back through Celle’s parks to catch the bus back to Winsen.

But week later, Susie’s movie director German cousin, Maria, rented a car for us without asking. We never knew how much it cost but were grateful and for a week we drove all around North Germany. We drove to Garssen where Kathe had been baptized 80 years ago and spread her ashes in a circle around the little church, we drove to Worpswede, an artist’s colony where Kathe’s favorite artist, Paula Modersohn Becker, painted and died young after childbirth. We visited Fischerhude where her husband, Otto Modersohn Becker’s, paintings are beautifully displayed in a small museum. We drove to the Luneburger Heide to see the pink heather in bloom. We drove along white birch lined country roads bright with the yellow leaves of autumn. We drove to Kathe’s father’s home village of Vollbuttel and had a wonderful evening with cousins.

On the way back from Vollbuttel in the rain, still on the back roads we drove through village after village only a few miles apart with the speed limit changing every half mile, 100 kilometers an hour in short clear spurts, 70 closer to the village, 50 when still closer, then 30 in the narrow lanes of the village. Susie was driving very cautiously to avoid breaking the speed limit, which every German drives in fear of. But she was so cautious that a long line of cars formed behind us. Finally Susie said, I’m going to speed up and then find a place to pull off. Within ten seconds there was a sudden bright flash. We had been geblizt, a machine set up with a camera that could detect the slightest speeding had nailed us. The other cars seeing the flash had slowed down and were suddenly far behind us. We pulled over and let them pass and drove home subdued and chastened and for the next week worried about the consequences of being geblizt. We returned the car to the car rental place after hours. There was no one to ask what the next step would be. Susie flew home a few days later and we forgot about it.

Until today when Maria sent us the photo of Susie at the wheel, tight lipped as she worried about the cars behind her. Maria said that the fine wasn’t much, that she must not have been much over the speed limit. But the shock of the moment is burned into our memories. We are grateful for the car rental, grateful for Maria taking care of the fine but are still traumatized when we remember the bright flash.

The other day I read that Biden’s large infrastructure bill has a good amount of money in it to set up these flash camera speed traps all over the United States. They are going to be much more efficient than cop cars with the flashing blue light coming out of their hiding place and giving us a ticket. They will be hidden but always present, day and night, wherever you drive. They are going to be a boon to cities needing revenue. And Susie and I can tell you that the fear that they are going to instill is going to stop a great deal of speeding, even going slightly over the the speed limit, and will save a great number of lives, which is the reason for the ample funding. So this is our warning to all. This is what it looks like to get caught on candid camera. Soon, you, too, will be driving in a state of high anxiety. Good luck.