Minimalist Adobe, Marfa Texas

"Minimal" doesn't mean "cheap".

Marfa Yard Dogs: 1956 Ford Panel Truck (Highland Cleaners)

That's Marfa, Texas.

Guadalupe County, New Mexico

I'm in Cambridge MA where the Autoliterate office is located in Harvard Square, in the same building ("Car Talk Plaza") as NPR's Click & Clack, The Tappet Brothers.  The guys haven't recorded in years--Ray died in 2014--but a "best of" show is still on the air. (Offices of Dewey Cheatem & Howe are 2 floors down.)
I'm thinking a lot about eastern New Mexico where a piece of my next novel is set. Guadalupe County. That's how this postcard photo (above) turned up--La Fiesta Cafe was in Santa Rosa, NM. Would appreciate hearing from anyone who knows that area--Puerto de Luna NM especially. I plan on a road trip later this spring. Autoliterate would very much like to post some jpegs of cars and trucks from New Mexico so if you got 'em, send 'em, please.
Below is from an eastern NM road trip in 2014.

1975 Chevrolet K20

 It's for sale on ebay, in Sacramento CA.

Streets of (Southern) Italy (and Sicilia)

Field notes and photos from Brian Burwell:

"The streets are very narrow in the older towns, many are one way, and sometimes at a steep slope.  There is little vision onto the street you are entering because buildings are right up to the edge of the streets.   This leads to challenging situations where Italians are very patient with one another.  (Not so in the larger cities where multiple lanes are always merging and one juts one’s bow into any opening in the desired direction.)  Work vehicles have been built and adapted to meet space restrictions.  

"My Ford Ranger would not fit and certainly not your "full size” pickups.  A basic model is the three wheeler, often used for street-side sale of fruit, vegetables, etc.   The green unit is for pizza delivery.  

"Old metal bed headboards are often attached — must be good for tying to. 

"The third truck is small four-wheeler used to deliver vegetables door to door in Castelammare del Golfo where many of the residents are elderly women. 

 

"The fourth truck with the fold-down sides is owned by a furniture store and used for delivery.  

"Cars carry many things including brush for a baker in Scopello, and some benches.  

"Cats also need transportation.  The 63 year-old operator of the laundromat we used in Palermo has driven a Honda Shadow for the past 22 years. 

"Some highway trucks are personalized with the drivers name emblazoned across the front, a saint pictured on the side, fancy lights etc.  These are probably driven by old guys. Unfortunately we haven’t been able to get pictures"--BB

1966 Chrysler 300

Jeff Brouws

Carmen Red, Daly City, California, 1991

Pigeon Hill, Quebec (St-Armand)

"...more noteworthy was the repulsion of the Fenian (American!) Raiders at Pigeon Hill, Quebec on June 6, 1866 (in all fairness, once driven back across the border, the Raiders were promptly arrested by American forces). The Royal Guides, 40 in number, were essentially the Montreal Hunt in uniform under the command of Capt. Lorne MacDougal, a Montreal merchant, who had been Master of the hunt from 1854 to 1859. Sabres drawn, presented flat, the Royal Guides charged and beat the Fenians back, capturing 16 in the process, enduring a few wild gun shots from the Raiders, but suffering no casualties. Reports are, in fact, that there were no casualties on either side, except perhaps the after-effects of a sabre spank or two."https://www.foxhuntinglife.com/montreal-hunt
See also:
http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/fenian-raids/
http://townshipsheritage.com/article/visit-missisquoi-historical-society-archives
And, speaking of borders, my 'Commentary' piece, "Walls & Us" on National Public Radio's All Things Considered.