Motorcycles, Abstinence, and a King Midget

It was a kind of crazy day at Afton Station today. Once again, my theory of having very few visitors in the winter was shot to hell. There were 13 today, and that doesn't count several who just stopped and looked in the window but chose not to come in.

It was a joy to find Marly and Luis working hard on reroofing the two bathroom wings, which both leaked. They removed the orange "tiles", saved them, and re-waterproofed and insulated each roof. They worked all day, but probably won't put the tiles back on until tomorrow. This needed to be done before the big rains which are predicted for tomorrow and Monday roll in.

We barely had time to begin the day when six people on three motorcycles roared in. They were from Grove and were taking advantage of the 70-degree (albeit cloudy) day. They were nice folks, but they weren't the only bikers to show up. The next group of three motorcycles chose not to come in. They parked in our driveway for a while and had a cigarette, then just as we thought they might be coming in, they cruised on down the road. Oh well.

A gentleman arrived and sold me a 12th grade girl for ten bucks. Well, not exactly. Nothing that kinky. He was merely a preacher from Afton who was selling "sponsorships" on behalf of a church coalition that's sponsoring an "abstinence" seminar for seniors at Afton High School a few days prior to the upcoming prom. Since I wanted to be a good Afton citizen, I bought a $10 sponsorship. I didn't bother to tell him that there wasn't a snowball's chance that pushing abstinence to 17-year-olds was going to work. In fact, I think it's been proven to be almost totally ineffective. But, it's a nice thought, I guess. Anyway, I got this flower.

A fellow dropped in pulling a car trailer on which sat a 1958 King Midget. I'd never heard of the tiny car, but it was very cute. This guy had driven from Texas to Springfield, MO to pick it up. It turns out that his first car was a King Midget, and he just couldn't resist buying this one on Ebay for nostalgic reasons and to add to his collection of 20-some vintage vehicles. Note the hood ornament, which is a crown. Crown > King. Get it? You learn something new every day, and you can learn about the King Midget here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Midget

For an opposing view on the Midget, go here: http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1658545_1657867_1657682,00.html

LOL!

We had several other visitors to round out what turned out to be a busy and varied day. The time flew by, and I can only hope that tomorrow will be the same.