SCENE ON THE STREET : Bumper to Bumper

California, this sunny state of mind and movement, gives you license to thrill, dream, imagine and remember. Pay your fee to the DMV and be assertive: Announce that you’re making waves. (Or is the woman in the convertible a surfer?)

OK, so you’re a cop-out. Jealous, we step on the gas as we head out on assignment, visions of a laid-back life as a beach bum lapping at the edges of our mind.

On the highway, all is vanity. Accelerate to pass the nostalgic Volkswagen. Woodstock, you’re history. Watch the Mercedes behind you. Vroom at the top. Watch the Mercedes ahead of you. Hey, I’d feel lucky too, with those wheels.

But the ones you can’t figure out can slow you down. Get a little closer to that one from Lake Arrowhead. OK. OK, that’s clear. Fine By? Fone By? Effin Eebee? Is the Y a Why? Sounds like a swamp in the old Pogo strip.

All of a sudden, through Alhambra, Arcadia, San Gabriel and Rosemead, you’re thinking of mangroves and alligators.