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.