For the two of you (my mother and my publisher) who read my blogs, I want to start off this entry by saying that I have been trying for a long time to think of a new one to write.

Before I go on, let me say "Thank You" to those of you who read. I imagine a few more of you will start after you read this one.

Without further ado, I was making my way into the office today when I met a motorcycle. He (or she) was traveling in a line-up of other vehicles, but I could tell it was a motorcycle from a mile away.

How? As I approached the pack of cars speeding past me in the opposite direction, I couldn't help but be blinded by a glaring headlight.

As I approached, the light became brighter until it burned the back of my eyes. Then it became clear that there was only one light, which unless it was a padiddle (a car with only one headlight), I knew it had to be a motorcycle. There are plenty of those annoying padiddles out there too, but that's another blog.

Anyway, something else I observed as I met and passed the motorcycle was that the driver was hugging the center line of the highway.

Okay, here I go with my question. It's an honest question - not a criticism.

Why do motorcycles hug the center line instead of driving in the middle of the lane? It would seem to me that it would be safer to stay in the middle or even ride to the right side of the lane. What happens if a car crosses left of center? This would appear to be a safety concern?

Also, why do they drive with their bright lights on? The obvious answer would be that they want to be seen. Someone told me it was state law, and to look it up.

Obviously, if it's the law, then it has to be followed. But that doesn't mean I have to like it.

Now, some lights are brighter than others, but some are absolutely blinding. I don't know. I have to wonder if there isn't a happy medium. I don't think the lawmakers intended for drivers to be blinded, which creates a whole other danger.

Meanwhile, I have another comment to make about headlights. This is not a question.

When you're driving your car at night and you're using your bright lights ... please turn them off when you meet another car. This is just common courtesy.

This doesn't mean that you round the curve or come over the hill, think about it for a minute, and then reach up and calmly turn off the bright lights. I'm already past you and you've blinded me, so why not keep them on for the remaining 0.2 seconds that it takes for us to pass.

Oh yeah, and while I'm on the subject of bright lights. It is rude to have your bright lights on when you're driving behind someone who is less than a quarter-mile in front of you.

I'll be going along at night and notice a car appear in my rearview mirror, not thinking a lot about it. (It happens quite frequently.) I just flip up my mirror and ignore you.

To continue ... I'm going along and I meet a car going in the opposite direction. Suddenly, and unexpectedly, the headlights behind me go dim, as if the sun has been eclipsed by the moon. It is then that I realize the person behind me (not more than a half-mile away) has been driving with its bright lights on.

How rude.

P.S. There's no one I know named Neal. It just rhymed with the headline.