There’s a scene in the movie “Crocodile Dundee” that has stayed with me through the years.
It’s the one where Mick Dundee and his female companion are accosted by a knife-wielding mugger on the streets of New York.
The woman points out to a laid-back Mick that the bad guy has a knife. Mick replies that, nah, that isn’t a knife.
He then pulls out his own whopping big hunting knife and says something like, “Now, that’s a knife.”
I was reminded of that statement the other day when I was waiting in a drive-through behind a brand-new Volkswagen.
I looked it over, all shiny and sparkling in the sun, and thought, “That’s not a Volkswagen.”
Recalling my own 1962 red Bug that I had back in the 1970s, I couldn’t help but think, “Now, that was a Volkswagen.”
First of all, I actually could fit into it way back then. Second, it had a manual shift that actually responded correctly to my inept handling. No stalling on takeoff, no bucking and jumping when I tried to shift.
Best of all, it could turn on a dime (and almost park on one) and it never saw a back road it didn’t like. I had no compunction whatsoever about whipping off the blacktop and onto the gravel.
The interstate may be fastest, but the gravel, hands down, offers the best view, unless you’re really into looking at traffic, truck stops and exit signs.
Traveling the side roads, you can see acres of crops here and fields of wildflowers there, rattle over iron bridges and take a winding path up the knobs and stand on the brakes going back down.
At dusk, I have seen roadside meadows filled with fireflies, and at dawn, fog seeping from the ground and silently drifting over the fields.
Breathtaking.
The Volkswagen is long gone, but I’m still searching for the best views in life and they’re still turning up in unexpected, out-of-the-way places.
That’s why this blog, like my weekly column for The Tribune, is called “Side Roads.”
This is a place to share your own views as well. Drop in, and drop a line, any time.

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