If you're not from around here: the Woodward Dream Cruise is one Saturday every August when it seems like every old car in Michigan comes out and drives up and down Woodward, from Ferndale up through Royal Oak and Birmingham to Pontiac, all day long. Nobody's racing and nobody's going anywhere. You just cruise, or you sit on the median in a lawn chair and watch them go by. This year was the fifth one, on Saturday, August 21, and the office window happens to be right on the route.

I wasn't at the office, of course. The camera was, and that frame up there, from ten to three in the afternoon, is my favorite thing it has ever done. Traffic in both directions, all of it older than me or close to it, and the median packed with people under beach umbrellas. It was hot and hazy, and you can see that too.

WHAT I THINK IS IN THE PICTURE

At 320 by 240 I can't swear to any of this, but here are my best guesses on the ones right under the window:

• The turquoise one on the left is a fifties car with the fins and a lot of chrome. Could be a Chevy, could be something rarer. If it's yours, write me.
• The orange one next to it has the look of a GTO Judge. Hilda says I say that about every orange car.
• The lime green one is a Mopar, I'd bet lunch on it.
• The red one at the bottom with the fins was in no hurry at all, which is the whole idea.

OUR DAY

We walked over to Woodward from the house with the cooler, the lawn chairs and the girls' wagon, and set up on the median a little after nine. Megan kept a count of Mustangs on the back of a paper plate and lost track somewhere in the forties. A retired couple from Warren with a '57 Bel Air let Virginia sit behind the wheel, and she fell asleep in the wagon by four. Hilda read half a paperback and looked up whenever I said "look at that one," which was every thirty seconds.

The Chevelle stayed home again. It's a 1970 SS, maroon, and I've had it since 1991. The body's done and the paint's done. The engine is on a stand in the garage in more pieces than I'd like, waiting on parts and on me. I'd love to take it up Woodward before the girls are driving. Maybe next August. I said that last August, too.

IF YOU'RE COMING NEXT YEAR

1. Don't plan on driving Woodward that day unless you're in the cruise. Park on a side street and walk over.
2. Get there early. Some people had their lawn chairs out on the median by Thursday night.
3. Sunscreen, a hat, and more water than you think. There's not much shade once the good spots under the maples are gone.
4. Bring a camera and film. Or just check the WoodwardCam, which will be right there at the window again.