I love gassing up my car these days.

My trusty ’97 Taurus wagon is a great machine. It’s been dependable for 115,000 miles so far. Although slightly battered now, it was a deluxe ride in its youth, with leather seats, a sunroof and all the goodies. And it’s a great highway cruiser, getting about 25 mpg on long trips.

But it’s kind of thirsty around town. I only get about 17 mpg if I drive really carefully, and if I’ve been leadfooted, that figure drops to about 15. So the recent drop in gas prices has been lovely.

I filled up the other day at the SuperAmerica on 25th & Hennepin in Uptown — shout out to SA, my favorite convenience store! The price for regular was $1.90 a gallon. And as I pumped, I watched the gallons tick off and counted up the money I was saving with each gallon compared to when it was $4.

When I finished pumping 13 gallons, I magically had $26 in my pocket that wouldn’t have been there a couple months ago. That will buy me lunch for most of a week, or pay for a couple of my daughter’s piano lessons, or cover my fantasy football losses for half a season.

I don’t believe these prices will hold. In fact, for the overall good of our future economy, it’s probably better that they don’t. The truth is that worldwide oil supplies will continue to tighten in the long term, and we’re going to see $4 gas again. It would be unwise to make plans based on the idea that cheap gas is back to stay.

But I won’t lie to you — right now, I’m lovin’ it.