Life in Chittenango is Great, but. . .

In my 150 postings, I have often written about the joys of life in the village "where waters run north, " but I have to say there are some pretty good things about living in Fayetteville, that little village just north of Manlius, too. The thing that has caught my eye each day for the last few weeks, when I head to Panera Bread for the world's greatest dark roast coffee, is the construction of the world's most beautiful combination gas station, convenience store, and car wash, from now on referred to as the GSCSCW.

Anyone who hasn't seen it owes himself or herself a drive down Rte. 5 to the corner of Burdick Street when Towne Center lies. (I have to admit, I don't know if there's an "e" at the end of Towne in Towne Center, but when discussing Fayetteville it looks so right.) On the northeast corner of that intersection sits the nearly completed Sunoco GSCSCW. The building is spectacular. At the north and south corners of the new building, facing west, are two stone... turrets, I guess you'd have to call them. The roof above the doors appears to be made of COPPER, and the multi-paned windows, trimmed in pristine white, complete the sort of Northwoods look about the place. This GSCSCW will not be run by some guy named "Shorty." Strips of flypaper will not hang from the bathroom ceilings or over the little see-through pizza display case. And though, I'm sure they will be sold there, I just can't imagine this joint peddling Ho-hos, Almond Joys, and those little pine trees that take the stink out of your car.

I imagine the interior of the GSCSCW to be apponted with bearskin rugs, large leather couches, and fireplaces big enough to live in. The place will be filled with handsome apres ski folks. The Olympic Lindsays--Vonn and Jacobellis-- will be holding court on the leather love seats. And in a better world. it will sit right in front of El Capitan in Yosemite Park instead of next door to an all you can eat sushi place.

I don't have a picture of the GSCSCW so I've provided a picture of the aforementioned mountain, instead. When you see this monument to gas station opulence, imagining it sitting in front of El Capitan!