​​I’m normally a good driver—cautious, defensive, eyes on the road—won’t even turn to make eye contact with a chatty friend in the passenger seat. I've never even had a traffic ticket (might be a bit of luck involved there.) That said, I recently almost veered onto the shoulder of a main road. Just could not keep my eyes glued to the road ahead when both the median and the wide shoulders were alive with a dramatic show of wildflower blooms--intoxicating and distracting. 

For the past few weeks, ...