Mar 31 2007
Mystery Lady
(Note: The new banner for April 2007 is up. Please use the Refresh or Reload button in your browser, and if you still don’t see it, then do it again while holding down the Shift key.)
Driving home from work on a rainy Friday evening, I approached a few cars queued at a red light. We all worked to get as close to each other as possible so we could anticipate the green. Stop, go. A horn honk came from my left. Go. Stop. When I checked my mirrors, a minivan’s passenger window slid up. Ford Windstar. I don’t know anybody who drives a Windstar. Still, it could have been someone from work.
When the light turned green, my tires joined in the steady splash chorus of my fellow commuters. The Windstar coming up on my left, I sneaked a sideways glance. I didn’t recognize the lady driving.
I laughed at myself for assuming that of the approximately 15 cars around me, I knew exactly which vehicle had honked, and that it was directed toward me. It’s funny how personally I take horn honks. It’s like my brain flips the alert switch. Oh no, what did I do? I think as my eyes follow the imaginary triangle connecting my mirrors. Because, when in the car, the last thing I want to do is make someone mad.
A smile spread across my face when I pressed the garage door remote button. We had put Christmas decorations back into the attic just in time to make room before the spring rains started. Then I frowned. Too bad we couldn’t have done it before all those days of frost on my windshield.
I carefully edged the nose of the car toward the family heirloom dresser/vanity sitting against the back wall. As usual, I tried to gauge my stopping point by the width of my headlight reflection. A few days before I misjudged and the garage door scraped the back bumper as it closed. I really need to hang that golf ball again.
My laptop bag on my shoulder and my camera bag in my hand (never know when I might need to capture an image for a cupdate), I climbed up out of the Sebring and stood.
Something caught my eye.
I turned and saw that the gas cap door was open, the cap itself dangling by its plastic tether.
The lady probably had honked at me, after all, and had slid her window down in the rain to tell me I had forgot something. Whereever you are, lady, thank you.
The significance of that entire post just faded into obscurity at your mention of toting the camera around in case you need to take a picture of a cup caught in a storm drain. Dude, seriously. (But since there is no new picture, I assume it’s still there? Right?)
Simon - Oh, there’s a picture. I just haven’t revealed it yet.
Ah. Curiouser and curiouser!
What Mark isn’t saying yet is that the cup has been retreived and is sitting in a display case in his living room…or mounted on the wall like some prized trout.
Also, I like the new banner, although I’m not exactly sure what I’m looking at. Is that a finger above a tiny grasshopper or something larger above a slightly larger grasshopper?
I’m gonna guess a fingertip, since that hopper thingie looks awfully small and translucent. Just a guess though.
(Moksha, I don’t think Shan would allow Mark to do the cup mounted anywhere. She may tolerate his odd obsession with it, but if it got to that stage I’m sure she’d be all, like, Mark, dude, time to move on… or I will.)
Moksha - Gee, if I retrieved it, I was just going to set it on my desk at work, but I like your idea.
The banner (for April 2007, in case someone’s reading this later than that) features a tiny grasshopper. You guys were close on the fingertip guess — it’s my lovely wife’s thumbnail. I was afraid a little of the perspective might get lost in the cropping process, but it sounds like you guys figured it out. Making banners of those dimensions from a regular photo is tough.
I’ve since seen others use this trick, but I first learned it from my father, who used to shoot a closeup of a tiny flower, one without a dime next to it, one with. During a home slideshow, we’d see the flower all alone and think, “Oh, flower,” then see the next picture and think, “Whoa, little bitty flower.”
Simon - You are entirely right about the cup. I’m lucky if I can put out some personal memorabilia in our computer/guest room. One of my ceramic turtles hangs off the printer paper tray, but looking around, that’s about all I see. Yeah, the cup would not go over well.
Regarding the bug:
I have a cool shot from our honeymoon in Costa Rica where, one morning, we found a monstrous moth perched on a handrail near our hotel room. The pictures features a close-up of the moth and my wife’s fingertip showing through a perfectly transparent part of the wing. Neat Factor was about a 7.5 / 10.
Okay, so where can we see this photo?
I’ll post a link to it when I get home from Calgary in a couple days. You may have to remind me. It really is way cool.
Wow, I love the new banner pic Mark!
I wish I had half the talent in photography that you do… *S*
Actually, I have ONE picture, somewhere… that when developed, blew me away. I have to search for it… but it’s about 26 years old now… ~frown~
cupdate….nice one. If you decide to get out of the car again, just be careful. The other day I saw a video on Youtube where a guy is just innocently filling his car up with gas, and a HUGE tire just comes out of nowhere, rolling no telling how fast, and totally wipes him out. I’m talking elbows over a–hole. It’s gruesome. He was alive and moving, but I have a feeling he had some serious issues with his lower body when the smoke cleared. I’m sure you could find it with a simple search, but be prepared to implant images in your brain that you might not want in there.
Loved the photos. I hope you have some good photo ops when you come up for your visit. By the way, it’s going to be chilly here, with highs only in the low-mid 60’s. Not the upper 70’s that we’ve been having.
Mark, way cool banner.
Nice of that lady to (try to) let you know about your gas cap. I always try to be nice to people like that. Every once it awhile it comes back.
The best picture I ever took was of JuJu at the beach when she was about 4 years old. Completely candid. She was leaning back on her elbows with her head back, eyes closed, basking in the sun. Her long blonde hair was bleached out almost white, blowing in the sea breeze and her little body was tanned in a shiny aqua swimsuit. It was priceless. It disappeared a long time ago and I could go through about a million negatives to try and find it but I think I will wait until I’m retired and bored on a rainy afternoon…
I love that they tether the gas caps to the entry hole. I left the cap from my first car on the pump three times, two of which were gone when I returned. I drove for three weeks with a Tropicana orange juice cap before replacing it the last time. I then started putting the cap on the front seat.
Simon - Consider yourself reminded.
Dave - Thanks. It’s really just where you priorities lie. Most people who put any effort into it at all find out that they can take some great photos (not saying mine are, but I’m always working on it).
Charles - I’ve seen that video! It’s scary, and I actually try to put something between myself and the roadway now when I’m pumping gas. Pretty amazing how that thing got between his car and the pump, though.
I would guess you’re talking about the CD of pics we sent home with A. Glad you enjoyed. Thanks for the heads-up on the weather.
Linda - Thanks.
I try to help people like that, because, why the Hell not? I mean, it doesn’t take me much energy or time to do it, and there’s just not enough kindness in the world.
Blitz - On the front seat! Of course!
Hey, at least you had a decorative gas cap for a while, instead of a red shop rag hanging out. Those are my favorites. It’s like an invitation to make a Molotov Cocktail out of your car.
You know, I always thought my (and your) approach of putting the cap on the pump instead of the car would save me from losing it. Never really worked out that way for either of us, I see. I love my tethered cap. I wonder if you could get one from a third party? The only thing I don’t like is that my gas door has no lock, which might become a problem if the prices don’t hold steady.
Linda - One of my favorite all-time pics of myself is one my dad took on the beach when I was about 3 or 4. Sounds like that JuJu pic is a classic, too. I hope you find it one day.
I had to add this after reading your response. When I first met my wife she had a gas cap that had a lock built into it. (Her dad had gotten it during the 70’s gas crisis.) She pulled in for gas one day and the key had fallen off her key ring. No gas for her that day.
Mark, you just gave me a clue as to the whereabouts of that photo when you said “favorite pics of myself”… I should maybe ask Ju if she might have swiped it for herself…
Blitz - Oh, I’ve seen those with the built-in lock. Mine doesn’t even have a locking door that requires the pull of a release lever or the push of a button. Another car I had did, and I found myself cussing every time I had to open the trunk to use the emergency release cable.
Linda - You might be onto something. I must admit that I absconded with the one my dad took. Just temporarily so I could scan it in. Of course, now I still have it.
People in cars are funny.
Horns are so unsatisfactory. They should come with emoticons or something.
My brother had a after-market gas cap that had a built-in tension-closed flap on it that you could push the gas nozzle straight through. You didn’t even have to take the gas cap off to fill your tank.
I have had a few similar situations like this. On my way home from Tupelo, Mississippi several years ago, I had forgotten to close the gas cap door on my car. An elderly couple pulled beside me on the U.S. 45 freeway in Tupelo and motioned to me that I needed to checked my gas cap. The lady opened her window to tell me.
I was so much looking forward to getting home that I had forgotten to close that gas cap door.
Mark, all of this talk of gas caps really conjures up memories of a really classic Crabtree story. It takes leaving your gas cap off to a whole new level. It’s too long to put here on the comments, but remind me to tell you about it if you don’t already know it.
I live a couople doors “downwind” from a convenience store/gas station. The store itself is on a bit of a hill. My mailbox is across the road from said store. You can’t imagine how many gas caps find their way to the patch of grass under my mail box. Picture the drivers driving off and the gas cap rolling across the road and landing in the grass. I just return them to the store hoping the owners will think to ask if they were found. (I figured everyone else had gas cap stories and I was feeling left out)