There is a certain spot where I disrobe on my ride into work. No, I don’t get totally naked, it’s just that there is a definitive line where my commute crosses into the urban heat island. Most of my commute into work is downhill, so the more rural stretches can feel bitter cold in the morning. I cross into the heat island long before my commute flattens out, so it’s before the last long, big hill that gloves, hats, and jackets come off. This morning I hurriedly swapped gloves, started pedaling just as the light turned green. I heard a voice call out behind me, “YOU DROPPED A GLOVE!” I awkwardly tried to stop and turn around- not so easy when you are on a bike on a sharp descent. The lady driving the SUV behind me actually got out of her car to pluck the glove out of the road in front of her and hand it to me. I gawked in shock. The light is green! It’s just a glove! You can run it over, it’s fine! But, there was no one behind her, and she was far swifter bending over than I would have been on my bike. I thanked her profusely. Seattle drivers tend to be more relaxed than other cities I’ve lived in. They are totally OK driving 40mph on an empty interstate, stopping in the middle of rush hour to say hello to someone on the sidewalk, spinning around in the middle of a busy intersection to find a better parking spot, slowing at a huge interchange to check their GPS, and stopping on a green light to recover a lost glove, apparently. Usually I am aghast at how calmly Seattle drives (dare I say passive-aggressive?). But today, the calm response helped me out, instead of being in my way, and I felt very thankful! There is a piece of community that is lost when you just drive life by.