Painting in the Middle of Town and Selling Trailers to Boot

DOWNTOWN CIRCUS CAPITAL

It's cool out today and were both hungry. Tim and I, me driving, head for the End of the Tracks. The breakfast there today was splendid, sumpteous and downright heart stopping. "Past the butter please, Tim." Today, I decided as we've been talking about it for awhile to paint some of the local downtown scenery of the Amateur Circus Capital of the World, Peru. Which by the way has the most antique and second hand stores per capita beating only Bolivia Peru. They are 1.5 per 200 people and we are 2 per 200 people. Like I said its cool out this morning. Sort of going backwards like we were heading into March again. Canadian geese have all made nests and laid their eggs so we can't turn back. It must be global cooling based upon the wind coming from the mouths of all the people saying GAH!!! who are Global warming yay-sayers. We, no I decided, we'd set up down by the 'bars end' of town. "Outrageous Joe's" is having a pool tournament, $5 dollars entry fee.  More local color down here at this end. We are parked in Club 14's parking lot another local watering hole. We are surrounded by enclosed trailers the big black rouded bullet kind people haul horses or meth labs in.

Just for the record Club 14 is famous for one of its regulars who tells everyone about his favorite meal. "Y'a see you need a good pack of weiners. Put these in a pan and fry them like you would baloney. When the get real smoky and cripsy and black take 'em out and put in a little milk and flour and stir like hell. "Ahhh, weiner gravy." What does one do with weiner gravy? "Ya chop up them weiners and put 'em over toast and smother all this with the 'oinkish' pink brown weiner gravy. Pu'e heaven!"  Not a dry eye in the place. Everyone is crying so hard from the laughter the have held back for the last five minutes.Mike and him almost get into a fist fight. Mike goads him with,"Jake that's the stupidest thing I have ever heard in my life. Weiners are just piggy buttholes and snouts." Jake's swinging but he's had one too many this morning since he started when they opened.

When we set up two fellas come over to me and Tim and ask. "Are these 14 footers?" How in the hell do I know? I'm a plein air painter. Tim thought we ought to go ahead and sell them but tell them to pick them up a few minutes after we have left. "Yeah, they are for sale and yeah, they are 14 footers. And today only, we'll take $400 bucks for each and $1200 for all three." I think maybe they thought something was supsicious because I started to roll my eyes like these guys were downsized from the marble factory in Northeastern Tenn. at Agateville.

The location has a few old bars across the street and a real estate agency run by a local wheeler dealer. Every town has 'em. They drive around in huge Suburbans or Hummers. I decide to paint the three building across the street but zoom in a litlle while Tim on the other hand goes for the big picture of the south end of town inlcuding parked cars. What a glutton for punishment. He and I are both complaining as this is a tough one because there is nothing really to focus on. The buildings are run down and girlie trucks keep parking in front of the empty storefronts.

A girlie truck is a big ass Dodge Ram 4000 Hp. with a polyethyelne bed-liner and a tail gate that is curved in to assure no damn sheet of plywood will ever scar up the bed liner. Thye also have a hell of a lot of chrome and geegaws on the hood of the truck. "Aw gee guys, why don't you just buy a big Lincoln with steer horns on the front?"

Tim is busy tapping away at his board so I figure he's getting somewhere. I can't seem to get a handle on this because today this corner is the loudest I've ever heard it with Big ass Dodge Rams gunning their 4000 Hp. engines going aorund the corner looking at these "honey trailers." We haven't had any other takers on the enclosed trailers but we still have about a half hour left. Finally, I start to get a hold on the feelling of the sunlight on the buildings and start focusing on that with the hard shadows falling on the crumbling concrete sidewalks. I didn't gesso the paper today so I'm getting more of a 'watercolor' look to the painting.

Tim gets up with a grunt or two later. "I'm done." "Okay,I'm just about there,too,I reply." The heater in the car will feel good. My fingers are like cold sausages. We pack up the car and get in. Just then a guy is looking over the trailers."Hey let me do the talking this time," I say. Tim starts laughing because we know they aren't going t' buy a trailer. They just need something to pull around behind their Big Ass Dodge Rams, probably a set of tennis balls in a pantyhose swinging from the trailer ball hitch.

We'll see you next time and this time bring some gloves. Might just have enough time to grab a cone at the Corner Curl this morning.

PhilandTimPaintOutdoors