Billy’s All-Day Car Wash

Welcome back. It may be late, but Billy's Car Wash is open all day and all night, so you can stop by anytime. As evening begins to fall, the gentle industry at the car wash continues just the same. Lights blink on, and the water on the tarmac gleams. Dusty, weary-looking vehicles pull into the lot, and after a little TLC, they drive away as if brand new, sparkling, all their cares washed away. And now let's take a moment for a short wind-down exercise. Tonight's exercise is a really simple breathing exercise. So when you're ready, let's begin. So first, get yourself comfortable. Now just bringing the attention to the breath, just noticing where you feel it in the nose, the throat, the chest, the diaphragm, you're nice and relaxed. We're going to be taking a deep breath in for four, holding it for four, and then breathing out for six. So, are you ready? Let's begin. In for four. Two, three, four. Hold it for four. Two, three, four. Now breathing out for six. Two, three, four, five, six. In for four. Two, three, four. Holding for four. Two, three, four. Out for six. Two, three, four, five, six. In for four. Two, three, four. Holding for four. Two, three, four. Out for six. Two, three, four, five, six. In for four. Two, three, four. Holding for four. Two, three, four. Out for six. Two, three, four, five, six. Great. Now returning the breath to normal. In a quiet corner at the edge of the lot, Billy's oldest son Ryan is carefully waxing a beautiful aquamarine sports car. He applies the wax by hand using a small round sponge, which he sweeps in gentle circular motions across the car's body work, completely absorbed in his activity. The car belongs to Beau McKinley, a longtime customer of Billy's Car Wash. Beau grew up not far from here. He and Billy even knew each other as kids, but he made it big in the movie business and left town. He never forgot his roots though. "Ain't no place like home," he tells Billy, who has stepped out of the cashier's booth to shoot the breeze with his old pal. The two men gaze towards the hills where the sun is slowly setting, dusk sweeping softly across the sky like the wax on the bonnet of Beau's car. Soon enough Ryan will begin to buff it to a high shine, such a shine that, that gorgeous blue-green paint job will look like a little piece of the ocean you could dive right into. Loretta takes her car to Billy's Car Wash twice a month. The car, which is white, very small, and like Loretta's hair and nails, invariably shiny, doesn't need to be cleaned with anything like such frequency. It usually sits in Loretta's driveway, between her bright green perfectly manicured front lawn and privet hedge while Loretta is down the street running her busy nail salon. She walks to work....