Summer is nearly gone and I don't feel as if it has made a dent in my brain. There have been very few moments that have jangled the neurons causing my memory folders to open.
Last night, following a day when the back deck registered 111 degrees in the shade, the crickets were nearly screaming. I will admit that for a brief moment I was back in D.C. at an outdoor amphitheater for a Danny Kaye show. I remember the sound of the crickets and the sky full of stars. Danny Kaye sat on the edge of the stage, shirtsleeves rolled up, smoking a cigarette. If you ever saw Danny Kaye in person you'd know how magical the shows were. That particular show is one of my summer memories.
Road trips are also a summer memory, but not this year. There just doesn't seem to be time anymore, especially as I look down the road and wonder how much time I have left. I need to stop looking at the ages of people in the obits.
I'd like to think this shot was taken on a summer vacation. A stop for gas at the Texaco and a bite to eat at the Shady Lawn Lunch Room. Seriously, look at the image larger and you'll see that is indeed the name of the restaurant. I'd give anything to step back in time to visit this roadside treasure.
Click on images to see them larger.
Now I'm not sure about that garage attendant. What is he holding in his hand? Puncture a tire while you're in getting something to eat and then sell you a new one? Not implausible. I've known of it happening at a garage in southern California around twenty-five years ago. These days it's hard to find anyone willing to do anything for you at a gas station. Well, except in Oregon where it's illegal for you to fill the tank yourself. Up there you still have to sit and wait for someone else to do it. A throwback to an easier time? Sort of, except most of the stations have only one person working the pumps which means you sit and wait. Drives me nuts because I know I could get out and do it myself and be on my way. That's the problem with today, everything has to be faster. We forget to enjoy the moments in between.
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Tattered and Lost: Cakes, Picnics, and Watermelon
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I think he has an oil can in his hand - the spout looks like a blade.
ReplyDeleteI wonder where this place is (was?) Finding out would be a real challenge!
I hope you are OK - you sound rather melancholy.
An oil can. Yeah, that's probably it. One of those cool old ones with the long spout.
ReplyDeleteI too wonder where the shot was taken. Nothing written on the back. Anywhere USA when places still looked local and not cookie cutter stamped corporate. No fast food joint in sight!
I'm okay. Just the normal winding down summer blues. Knowing the year is half over and Christmas decorations will be soon shoved down our throats. The cycle of life.
I know this gas station. It's on the road to nowhere, just west of somewhere, but not so far as that other place ― "been there." Of course "you can trust your car to the man who wears the star", and a beanie on his head.
ReplyDeleteYou nailed it!
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