I grew up with 4-by-40 automobile air conditioning: four windows down while motoring forty miles per hour. The habit hasn’t left me, though I confess to changing the fan speed with the flow of traffic. On a hot summer’s day many years ago, I was driving home from work with the windows rolled down and the radio volume turned up, thankful for a Friday that promised a welcome weekend. I made my way to my usual exit off the interstate without incident only to find it backed up. We were all bumper-to-bumper and inching forward in a losing race with the snails on the side of the road.

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