As I sat and stared at billions and billions of cars blocking me from my destination this morning, I made a moderately insignificant observation.

Actually, the moment of sub-enlightenment was just a few minutes later when the traffic started to move. The traffic had been touch and go for several miles, the way it always clogs when there is a wreck on the freeway ahead of me.

But this time it was different. Usually there are shards of glass twinkling around an accident scene, with a stray bumper here and there and at least one mangled vehicle. Today there was nothing left of or at the point of impact, except the ripple effect, that crazy residual slow traffic … that lingering glimpse of some random collision. … Miles of slow traffic, but no evidence of the cause.

Then this less than stellar thought hit me like a piece of falling space debris.

You know how astronomers teach us that the light that reaches our earth from faraway galaxies is visible millions of years after the star has actually run out of gas? Remember that from your Discovery Channel flipping days?

Well … today my traffic jam was just like that … just like some red dwarf gone caput, in some galaxy far away. Remaining effects, but no cause in sight.

Hmmm … too much carbon monoxide in traffic jam is not all bad? Ya think?