Putting it in R

I cannot drive well in reverse. And our driveway requires one to reverse down an incline. Without fail, I wobble the wheel left, then right, then left as I alternate which side of the lawn I careen across. I scratch the driver's door on the bushes halfway down. I frequently run the car up onto the walkway steps.

Last night, as I left with the oldest well after dark, I asked for utter silence so I could concentrate as I reversed. "Please, honey," I pleaded, "It's pitch black out." He acquiesced until we reached the bottom, only having hit one side of the lawn, plus the stairs. Then he asked, "What does pitch mean?" I explained that the word pitch had several meanings, but that the one pitch black refers to is

pitch
noun
Any of various thick, dark, sticky substances obtained from the distillation residue of coal tar, wood tar, or petroleum and used for waterproofing, roofing, caulking, and paving.
"pitch." The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. Answers.com 06 Dec. 2005. http://www.answers.com/topic/pitch