Monster Trucks

Spring has come to northern Minnesota. Flowers are starting to crawl out of the ground. The birds have come stumbling home. More than two restaurants are open. Most tellingly, the monster trucks are out. Now that spring is here the townies put away their snowmobiles and break out their spring line of transportation. I started seeing these babies around town once the ice on the roads had melted enough that it no longer took the trucks four blocks to come to a stop. (I encountered one this winter at a four-way stop, which was an eye-opener for sure. The truck bombed through the icy intersection, ninety degrees to the flow of traffic, as the driver laid on the horn to announce that he wouldn't be stopping.) I have five or six favorite trucks that I see around, all of which have cabs that start at eye level and wheels the size of bears. One of my favorites has a deer antler welded on above each window. I initially thought these trucks were charming, but I'm developing resentments. Now that it's spring I can indulge in one of my greatest joys, which is sleeping with my windows open. However, I live right on the main drag, and truck owners have lately been rejoicing in that quintessential small-town pastime of cruising around town without mufflers. But, Ely is a very small town. If someone's in the mood for cruising they're on a six to nine minute loop, depending if all three stoplights have started blinking. Guys, we recognize you. This is the seventh time in an hour you've roared past the grocery store. If the ladies didn't flock to your truck on the first pass, they're definitely not going to on the seventh.
So now it's sort of a love/hate relationship. I would rather the drivers find another nighttime hobby (maybe learning how to read? Too harsh?), but I still find the trucks spectacular when parked. I've been trying to surreptitiously take photos when nobody's around. I found this one right outside my apartment. That's my landlord's not-actually-tiny car in the background.