A Winter Carriage Ride in Memphis

It is too cold, for me, to drive a carriage. Not too cold to read, though, or sell books. So, I will be focusing on the bookstore for the winter instead of driving as much. I looked at the moon last night, took a deep breath in and thought," I miss driving!". I remember reading about a girl who thought it was important to spend one full day entirely outside. I thought it was such a great idea, intending to remain in nature, all day long. I remember sitting for a while, musing about the implications of establishing a Nature Day for myself, when it occurred to me - I do spend all day outside-and half the night, too! I think it is because I am working while on the carriage that it didn't really strike me that I spend so much time out of doors, as they say. Sometimes, like last night, I miss it. I am inside, all the time during these days.
I suppose most people spend the majority of winter indoors, but for carriage drivers, winter affects more than just our fresh air intake. Wait, did I say fresh air? Let me rephrase that - fresh-ish air. I do drive in Downtown Memphis, after all. ( Funny that I started this blog to talk about day-to-day carriage driving, but only end up blogging about not driving.) Like any tourist industry, winter is definitely a downtime for us. This cold season, for this carriage driver, really boils down to two key points: keeping warm and making money. Once you get on top of the cold and can handle being out in it, the problem is that no one rides! My favorite summation of winter in Memphis carriage riders is that they are either drunk or from up North. When it is averaging 10 degrees where you are from in Michigan and you come down to Memphis on vacation and it is 35 degrees, it feels like a party! And, let's face it, when your drunk, there's about no end to the odd things you will obligingly do. Not that riding a carriage in the winter is odd!!!
Let me emphasize that - riding in 35 mile an hour winds or in pouring rain, these are odd times for a carriage ride. Not undoable, just odd. However, with almost wind-proof blanket and side panels on our carriages, with a piping hot chocolate drink, or a warming glass of wine, all of which are available to this carriage drivers' patrons, a half hour on the carriage in the winter is a beautiful thing! Slowly walking through two beautiful parks, your ride gently being watched over by huge , old trees, with the Mississippi and Wolf Rivers shimmering in the background, ending right at your car or restaurant door - the cold is the last thing on your mind. Especially when planned for correctly, a Winter Carriage Ride is not only supportive of an industry no one wants to see fall by the wayside, but a glorious event, indeed.

Entry #2, Brand New Year

The New Year has begun and I am tired. I am also a vegetarian which means I didn't get any of the black-eyed peas they were having over at a friend's house. That's alright, I will whip up some cabbage to ensure, in some fashion of a Celtic/Saxon way, that I have a blessed New Year. 2009. I need to look up my Powerball numbers and see if the year is going to start on an unreal note or just a darn good one.
I had the latest night I have ever had, I think, on the carriage last night. Rang the New Year with this great couple from Australia. They were so sweet and I was lucky and glad they got on when they did- they got on at a quarter till midnight and got off at a quarter after. We actually counted down to midnight in front of Stella's (at Main and Monroe) with some celebrators who came outside to raise a glass and bring in the New Year under the stars. Every New Year's celebration I have had since 2004 has been behind a horse's toosh, underneath the stars. I haven't had any major blows to balance in my life in a while, so something is working right!
I had a guy get on my carriage last night after I quoted him a price and get off my carriage claiming he didn't have the money. Good person that I am, I laughed it off but did ask him,"Then why did you take the ride?" I felt like telling him he was going to bring in the New Year downtown, alright - at the city jail! Speaking of doing illegal things, word to the wise - Don't Argue With Your Boyfriend or Girlfriend in Front of the Cops! More precisely, not in front of a fleet of cops, all sitting in theirs cars staring at you.
I watched a couple arguing last night in front of said fleet of cops. They were just verbally arguing, but, after as many drunken male/female arguments as I have seen downtown, you get a feel for the ones about to blow up into something more than words. These two went back and forth and then he put his hand in front of her face, in a circular motion as if to be saying something about 'all of this', she didn't like that at all and started to walk away and that's when he grabbed her. I called out,"Hey!" and looked at the cops, wondering if they were going to just let this happen. I couldn't have been more wrong. They were watching the same couple and the second he put his hand on her, the absolutely descended on him! A few minutes later, another group of law enforcement officials did the same to a guy, right across the street from the fighting couple, who wanted to fight another man who apparently spoke to his wife in a rude and impolite manner. The cops didn't care why the man wanted to fight, just that he was about to. And so, I must say again, Don't Fight In Front of The Cops!!! I could advice folks to not get drunk on Beale Street and get in fights, but that would be silly. And, obviously, don't put your hands on the womenfolk! Duh!!
Overall, not a bad night on the carriage. Tons of people, lots of fun. A guy was walking by my carriage last night that had a group of tween girls and their mother on it. The guy was with friends and wished my ride a Happy New Year. Then his friend told my ride that it was the guy's birthday, so my girls sang him the full rendition of 'Happy Birthday'. It was really sweet and I think the guy really appreciated. After the song, though, he came clean and said his birthday was not actually on the 31st, but on January 1 and that although he wasn't the first baby born that year, he was the second. To this his friend chimed in," You're Number Two! Your Number Two!" which I thought was pretty funny!
Lots and lots and lots of four-inch-heeled shoes and sparkly, short dresses downtown last night as well as lots of people from North Carolina, which I don't see a lot of regularly on the carriage (North Carolinians, not heels). I think it is just too far away for people to travel for a vacation. Lots of Kentuckians, who I have always said I generally find to be extremely nice people. Don't know why they changed the game to Friday, but am glad they did. It should be a good weekend on the carriage. It has been a very busy time to be a carriage driver and it is always a busy time to own a used bookstore. Therefore, I am quite happy to take today off and do absolutely nothing. Which I am going to go do now. I hope you, whoever you may be, are enjoying this blog as I am enjoying writing it and can see that it is going to be something I will continue to enjoy doing!!
Happiest of New Years to You!!