HE LEANED ACROSS the front seat of the car, not to kiss me, but to spray Windex onto the passenger side windshield and then wipe the glass dry with a paper towel.
After 30 ½ years of marriage, this is Friday night—a date at a local car wash.
Not that my husband invited me along or even remotely suggested that this might be a date. But at the last minute I decided the car wash would make for an interesting photo shoot. Randy knows me well. He didn’t even question me or roll his eyes.
My first side view shot of the car wash, taken from the adjacent Kwik Trip gas station.
While he tended to gassing up the car, I strolled over to the car wash to shoot some exterior scenes before we joined the line of five waiting vehicles. Not bad for a 37-degree January evening topping off an exceptionally warm winter day with temps soaring into the 40s.
When you live in Minnesota, you have to jump on warm weather like this to wash away the destructive road salt that clings to vehicles. A sign at the car wash even states the business will close when temps dip to 10 degrees.
And we all know, because we’ve been hearing for days now from weather forecasters, that Minnesota is headed into the deep freeze. Wind chill advisories have already been issued for parts of the state. Strong winds, combined with air temperatures, will make the outdoor temp feel like 25 to 30 degrees below zero.
We’ve heard repeated warnings about frostbite and hypothermia and the need to protect our skin.
I tell you this to emphasize to those of you who live in much warmer locales and cannot fathom such extreme cold, why Minnesotans would wait in line at a car wash on a 37-degree evening.
While Randy and I waited, he fiddled with his cell phone, inputting the number to an area radio station. He’s good at music trivia or being the whatever number caller, having recently won tickets to a Trans-Siberian Orchestra concert and years ago a trip to the Bahamas and the chance to win $1 million (which he did not win).
Waiting in line at the car wash, our car is on the left.
At this point, I stepped briefly from the car to scope out photo ops and shoot a few frames, hoping the other motorists wouldn’t roll down their windows and question me.
Back inside the car, we chatted a bit—about what I can’t remember—and Randy cleaned the interior windshield and eventually the garage door rose, the car ahead began exiting and my spouse directed our car inside.
Now you might think that in the privacy of the enclosed car wash, this could have been a date-date. But, nope, I was too busy photographing the art.
You perhaps see simply a car. I see art in this photo-edited image.
More car wash art.
Not just water spraying onto the windshield, but abstract art.
Nearing the end of the car wash art exhibit.
Exiting the car wash (exhibit).
© Copyright 2013 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
Minnesota Prairie Roots 
Wonderful pictures! I was just telling my husband this morning that I need to get my car washed before the temps drop again. Supposed to be in the 40s today. Whoo hoo!
Wonderful. You and your husband can go on a car wash date.
I’ve seen your experiments in photo enhancements. This post really is beautiful. I’m sure the original images were just fine, but holy cow! The enhancements truly belong in an exhibit. You know, they have a digital media category for exhibiting at the State Fair; what’dya think?
Thank you so much, Paula. I really am a novice when it comes to digital photo manipulation. I just kind of play around until I get results that I like. Trust me. The original images taken inside the car wash, in low light conditions, were not that great, which is one of the reasons I chose to edit them.
Hmmmm. I’ll have to think about that State Fair exhibit. I appreciate the suggestion and the confidence placed in my work.
Aw c’mon………Go for it…..this is a great post…..trust us!!!!!!
Now I’m feeling the pressure.
Guess where my husband is as I write this? At the car wash with the van. He asked, this time, if I wanted to accompany him.
ROFL!!!!!!
Remind me to tell you about one of DH and my first dates….at the Hilltop (Mpls) car wash. It is hysterical and involves The Law!!!!! (such a tease, hmmmm??)
Oh, my. Can you possibly post about this and then link to my post? Or is a story like this best left unpublished?
It just doesn’t do well in printed form…….wa-a-a-a-ay too animated!!!!!! LOL!
Alright. I’ll trust you on that.
😉
Good on you for getting out and getting the car cleaned on such a cold night. I think I would have been curled up inside the house in front of the heater! But you got some great ‘art’ images xx
Last night was really quite warm for January in Minnesota. The temperature here this afternoon was in the 40s F and now, at 6:30 p.m., has plunged to 13 degrees F. The temp is supposed to drop to minus 5 F tonight and as low as minus 15 degrees F on Monday morning. Now that’s cold. The winds are also quite fierce, making the temperature feel even colder.
Another thing we have in common! I have photographed several car washes including one in Australia with brushes that looked like bumblebees! So thrilled to know we will be coming back to such loverly weather tomorrow!
Brushes that looked like bumblebees? Now that would be worth photographing.
Loverly weather? It’s already 13 degrees here in Faribault and the wind is quite fierce. The power even went out for a few minutes.
Yea, I am not thrilled to be flying back into it today—the weather here in Raleigh finally got nice and sunny and I don’t want to leave!!!!
Safe travels back to Iowa. I hope you have your winter coat; you will need it.
What a fun post Audrey. The whole “date talk” made me chuckle! Yesterday I took my car through the wash….today we went for a drive on country roads, the result….. doesn’t look I my car has been washed for months. Maybe I should suggest a date at the carwash with rick 🙂
Yes, I dare you to suggest a date at the car wash to Rick and then post about it.
We went on a real date Saturday evening to an improv comedy show by Spontaneous Productions, a southern Minnesota based comedy group, at The Paradise Center for the Arts. Great show. We laughed and then laughed some more. Way better than a car wash date.
Very interesting. Why? Because I have never been visiting car wash! All my life I have washed my / our cars by hand. Think that I have owned cars since 1972. I think I’m quite an oddity today. 🙂
An oddity perhaps. But look at all the money you’ve saved.