An old Fiat in Elberton, Washington, near the border with Idaho

The Mayor of Elberton has a lot of old cars and trucks in his front yard, including this adorable 1950’s era Fiat Cabriolet with a very special hood ornament. It even has the keys in the ignition, although that may imply a fair amount of wishful thinking. Having the job of Mayor of Elberton, WA might also imply some wishful thinking, although it occurred to me that it’s a noble thing to be a mayor of a town, however small. I believe Dr. Seuss’ Whoville had a mayor. The Mayor of Elberton does many other things, among them tuning pianos and running some kind of a farm (growing old cars, perhaps). Elberton, WA became a much smaller town after the prune factory (said to have been the largest prune factory in the world at the time) burned down around the time when it became possible to get fresh fruit year round, perhaps almost 100 years ago now. They never rebuilt, and when the resort hotel on the hill burned down, it was also left that way. The church, though, didn’t burn and it still stands with robust looking boards over the windows and doors, but otherwise looking very solid and respectable with its red bricks and steeple. Nobody lives in the house next door and it’s very quiet and green and peaceful at that intersection near the bridge over the river.