A startling moment

While driving back from Missouri, I stopped at a gas station near Indianapolis. While filling the tank, I popped the hood and checked the oil. Consternation! There was no oil to be seen! I could see the entire length of the dipstick, right down to the very end! Was I running without any oil at all? What new disaster was this?

Running a finger down the length of the dipstick, I realized that it was indeed coated with oil. Clean, translucent oil. Oil that I could see through. After driving that truck for eight years, I had forgotten that engine oil could look like anything other than opaque black sludge.