A Cold One

I have to gas up my car about three times a week. I know the obvious implications of this, both to my wallet and to the ozone layer, but I drive over 800 miles a week, so at the moment it can't be helped. This morning I stopped for gas on my way to Afton. Stepping out of the car, a blast of chilly air hit me in the face and startled me. What's this? Oh yeah. . . it's October. This is what I'll have to face -- and worse -- for the next six months. Time for inconvenient encumbrances like jackets and gloves. And this is Oklahoma! How ever did I endure the cold in Connecticut, New York, and Ohio? I must be getting soft.

Another unpleasant consequence of the upcoming winter is darkness. Too much of it. It's already dark most of the miles I drive to Afton in the mornings. I'm not a fan of darkness. I don't fear it, I just find it boring, especially while driving. Driving is my passion because of what I can observe while doing it, therefore darkness puts a huge damper on inspiration. There won't be many photos on my blog for a while, I guess, if I can't see anything to photograph. For instance, here's what I saw all the way to Afton Station today.

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Well, to add to my anti-cold rant, it turns out that there's no heat here at Afton Station today. The heater keeps trying to come on, but it shuts off immediately. Good thing my ex, who is an HVAC engineer, will be home from his fishing trip tonight. He has a job to do! Meanwhile, I'll stay here until I start shivering, then I'll close up and hit the road for home.
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I stayed until 2:30, when the chill finally got to me. Poor Betty spent a couple of hours with me, much too polite to to tell me how cold she really was, but I could tell. I had a visit from Michael Scruggs, a photographer who drops in every now and then. He does some beautiful car photos. Here he is, overloaded with cameras.
I also greeted visitors from Yorktown IN, Phoenix AZ, and Miami OK. It was another slow day. I've been contemplating my winter schedule. Should I continue to drive up here 4 days a week after October? I could sure use a day off, something I haven't had since March. But it kills me to think of travelers facing a locked door when they come to the Station. Winter travelers get enough of those, since so many Route 66 businesses are seasonal. I guess I'll just play it by ear, which seems to be the story of my life these days.