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It's September, again. Already? Sure, the landscape is green... the horizon has risen a couple of degrees... but the thermometer is hovering in the forties, and the furnace has cut in twice since I fired up the PC. Did I sleep that long? When I did arise, not long after the Speckled Beast of Hades upended yet another unsuspecting personal effect around eight in the morning, the scene outside the kitchen could very well have been in the early fall. Dull grey, the mountains across the way shrouded in mist, no sign of life on the hill... the scenario was painfully familiar. It would have been so easy to dive back into the covers and ride out the storm, until I was better prepared to accept yet another in the series of oppressive days. That last lingering scrap of inspiration made me hit that second cup of coffee, and get presentable. It just seemed a better idea to get the wheels in motion and leave the desperation behind. Rainy day road trip... starting the search the replacement for the forlorn SAAB, reviving the music in the livingroom. Windshield wipers beating offbeat to the stereo, miles of crawling traffic, the hiss of water underneath... this wasn't much of an improvement, but at least it was moving forward. No luck with cars. It was apparent that this wasn't going to be the day, as the rains intensified and both lanes froze into saturated steel ribbons for as far as the eye could see. Then I saw the diner. Polished aluminum, a little worse for wear-and-tear, a real forties neon dinosaur... an oasis. Replenishment for the sodden soul. Western omelette, biscuit, coffee, Otis Redd1ng on the wall boxes and a steady hum of conversation as soundtrack... what an excellent recharge for the batteries this was. If only the batteries in the camera were so fortunate. After a few snaps, the LCD turned black, alive no more. Pity, since there were so many subjects to capture, though they were catalogued for a sunnier day. Further down roads made unfamiliar by the grey tunnel until we made F'bg... and Miss Jane made good on financing the components. Of course, my payback was following her through four stores for shoes. Men may be unthinking, heartless creatures... but there has to be some consideration for not complaining in the heat of the retail footwear battle. I waged war with electrical spaghetti when we returned, and the grey deepened into evening. While I wrestled, she received a call from her brother... who I've never met, and she hasn't seen in over fifteen years. An ususual finish to a numbing day.
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