After the Rain

Rain entered the Indianapolis area 

late Monday afternoon. It fell heavily, 

straight down, for what seemed like an hour.

When I returned home later that evening, 

the sun had started to break through the clouds.

One could see patches of clear blue sky

behind the gray overcast.

I went to the edge of the property 

to take a few pictures of the sun 

as it settled in for the evening, 

just beyond the tree line.

I imagined its hot, round bottom

nestling down onto the rain-soaked ground

sending up the clouds of steam

that created the smoky backdrop

for the passing trucks on I-465.

Truck Porn

Well, I won't go so far as to say that Speedway, Indiana is the only town in the United States where this could happen, but it's one of about thirty cities across the country where you could say, "We're gonna have about forty-five shiny big trucks parade through town" and a batch of people would show up to make a party of it.

Front grill of  the truck owned by Roush-Fenway Racing,
which hauls cars driven by Carl Edwards

And, boy, did they show up! Two rows of semi-tractor haulers, parked in two rows, nose to tail for over a half mile along Speedway's Main Street were greeted by people young and old, big and small. They ooohed and awwed, asked questions, took pictures of their kids, had pictures taken of themselves in front of their favorite driver's car hauler.

I wandered for an hour, walking first down one side of the display, taking pictures as I went, where I saw a lot of people doing the same. Then I returned, coming back between the two rows of these beautifully designed and polished behemoths. Brightly painted, they are rolling displays for their corporate sponsors. A circus come to town for a few days' run, then taking the excitement to the next city the following weekend.

While most of the haulers have a contemporary appearance,
that of driver Tony Stewart's has an almost retro feel 

Rear end of the hauler for driver Kyle Busch's cars.
Any guesses as to which products he's promoting?

Sadly, there is something wrong with my mouse - it won't allow me to crop my photos as neatly as I prefer, so I'm only posting a few of the better full frame images. Maybe in a couple days ...