LeCain, Timothy James. “Thank God for the Coal Rollers.” Springs: The Rachel Carson Center Review, no. 10 (July 2026). https://doi.org/10.5282/rcc-springs-22328.
Last summer, I was driving the family SUV home after a day of mountain biking here in the Northern Rockies of Montana. Although I was going a bit faster than the speed limit, in the mirror I saw a large black pickup truck approaching quickly from behind. A few seconds later the truck roared past me on the left. But then the driver abruptly pulled back in and slowed sharply. Stomping on the brake, I’d barely had a chance to utter a few choice observations of the driver’s suspect parentage and intelligence when the truck roared ahead again, now releasing a huge cloud of dense black smoke from its immense twin tailpipes. For a few white-knuckle seconds, I was engulfed and driving blind. When the smoke thankfully cleared, I saw the truck speeding away. I could almost hear the guffaws of laughter fading in the distance as the driver and his likely passengers disappeared around the next corner. (From the article)
This article was originally published in Springs: The Rachel Carson Center Review. Springs is an online publication featuring peer-reviewed articles, creative nonfiction, and artistic contributions that showcases the work of the Rachel Carson Center and its community across the world.
2026 Timothy James LeCain
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