Winter Doldrums

There are only so many times one can shovel the driveway, check out the frost patterns on the garage window and knock the ice off the wheel wells of one's car, before winter begins to close in and feel oppressive. So, to beat the icy blues, Mr. and Mrs. Hall, accompanied by Master Ian, de-iced the Cadillac and headed for the Syracuse Car Show. Once inside the glittery confines of the OnCenter, with all the flash of chrome and steel that Detroit could muster, the heart warms and the pulse quickens, and suddenly we are all Mr. Toad again, in blissful awe of the majesty and menace of the Motor Car.
There were a few concept cars present; it's always fun to see what designers think will be the "next big trend", but it was the interactive vehicles that were catching the crowd's attention. Mrs. H. took a turn at one of Ford's new "Sync" sedans, a vehicle that was supposed to behave like "Hal" in 2001, by responding to vocal commands. Unfortunately, it behaved just like Hal; much to the demonstrator's consternation. It steadfastly refused to obey any of the voiced commands that anyone gave it, and continued to play the selections it chose instead.
Ian looked dashing in the Hummer H2, but his heart was wrapped around owning a muscle car, and the new Mustang Bullet was his muscle of choice. It was all Mr. H. could do to get him to move on and relinquish the driver’s seat to another; and this was only accomplished by the promise of entering him in the new virtual reality race car competition that was going on in the ballroom. After several laps however, Master Ian consoled himself with the thought that while he wasn’t able to place in the money, he was able to knock a considerable number of contestants off the track.
It is the custom of the Halls, on car show visits, to acquire every brochure imaginable, then retire after the show to Doc’s for a late night snack, and spread the booklets all over the booth; happily, this year was no exception. And even though, later on that night, the winter snows were swirling about Penguin Hall; as Master Ian closed his eyes, the warm sunshine shone down, the heavenly purr of the massive DOHC V-8 engines propelled him forward as he gripped the wheel, and the road opened wide ahead of him….