I like "Fisherman's Dream" quite a lot. Bull Rapids Road in east Allen County, Indiana is by no means an Enchanted Highway. But it does have a well-run scrap and parts yard called Garmater's, and someone did some scrap-metal sculpture there, too. The raw materials were so conveniently at hand! I don't think any of them were quite up to "Fisherman's Dream" standard, but they were pretty good -- very imaginative.
I once took them an old, rusty car with a fatal transmission problem, barely driveable, and scrapped it out with them for a few bucks. I had to admit to poor planning, having just filled the gas tank when the car became reluctant to move. The counter guy told me it wouldn't go to waste. He said that all petroleum-based automotive fluids were drained, mixed, and burned to heat their sizeable building throughout the winter. Being a thrifty (i.e., cheap) engineer, I admired this practice considerably.
Wonderful prose. You painted such a beautiful picture with words!
And, then, the last sentence. So unexpected!
I like "Fisherman's Dream" quite a lot. Bull Rapids Road in east Allen County, Indiana is by no means an Enchanted Highway. But it does have a well-run scrap and parts yard called Garmater's, and someone did some scrap-metal sculpture there, too. The raw materials were so conveniently at hand! I don't think any of them were quite up to "Fisherman's Dream" standard, but they were pretty good -- very imaginative.
I once took them an old, rusty car with a fatal transmission problem, barely driveable, and scrapped it out with them for a few bucks. I had to admit to poor planning, having just filled the gas tank when the car became reluctant to move. The counter guy told me it wouldn't go to waste. He said that all petroleum-based automotive fluids were drained, mixed, and burned to heat their sizeable building throughout the winter. Being a thrifty (i.e., cheap) engineer, I admired this practice considerably.