Morgantown window

I have left my camera in the archives so unfortunately no picture with this post. I do apologize. But let me make up for it by giving a brief account of my very first hour of this one month long trip.

I had just finished with the paperwork for the rental car at the airport in Charlotte (the best airport in the US!) and had been driving for about 45 minutes when i decided to stop for breakfast. It was about 8:30am and I had reached a town called Morgantown. I exited I-40 and a highway patrolman was there stopping people on the exit ramp. A line of cars waited to be spoken to by two stiff-hatted men. It wasn't clear why. I had my license ready and reached it out to him when it was my turn. He looked it over carefully. Then asked if I still live in Florida. (I still have a Florida driver's license.) I said "yes, sir." Although we all know this is not the truth. I guess I was trying to avoid any complications with this man, and was just hoping the quickest and easiest answers would mean I was not to be paid attention to. It was. He said okay after a three second pause. And I went up to the stop sign and pulled away. There was never any explanation about any of it. And I didnt ask. I always just feel guilty around cops and use the method of quick release whenever I can. Lying to cops is also kind of fun to do.

So I was in Morgantown, NC now looking for a nice vegetarian breakfast restaurant, still a bit jumpy from having been looked over by the cops for no clear reason. I saw a place called "Coffeeshop". I pulled in the parking lot and a grey-haired woman in the window smoking a cigarette watched me suspiciously. Above her head and in each of the windows were huge photos of dishes of scrambled eggs, pancakes and bacon. Smoking coffee cups and muffins. On these photos were written funny quotations that had nothing to do with the food. My favorite one was on the Breakfast Specials photo of a ham and cheese muffin with hash browns. Across the photo it read, "If you want something done, ask a busy person to do it." I about fell out of the car laughing. I guess I pictured that lady with the cigarette saying it to me. Anyway, we watched each other for awhile: her giving me the evil eye with her cigarette clutched easily between fingers in a hand never too far off from her face, me sitting in a yellow rented Chevy Cobalt laughing at how witty I imagined her to be. When I stopped laughing I started to think about what this must look like from her Morgantown window. Because of this early morning exchange, I never ate at "Coffeeshop." I drove back to the highway and stopped at the next exit...