On the Road Again

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Jugster
Posts: 161
Joined: Sun Jan 06, 2019 6:41 pm
First Name: Bob
Last Name: Coiro
* REQUIRED* Type and Year of Model Ts owned: 1915 Touring
Location: Commack, NY
Board Member Since: 2009

On the Road Again

Post by Jugster » Mon Apr 12, 2021 5:58 pm

On the Road Again b flat.jpg
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So I went for the second of the two vaccine shots about a month ago and from what I've been told, that's supposed to do it. Hard to believe that after twelve months of hiding at home, grocery shopping at dawn to avoid humanity and the quest for toilet paper, it could be over so suddenly and so easily. Well, maybe it's time to start doing normal things again...
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I head down to the garage where waits my long-slumbering horseless carriage, a 1915 Model T Ford. This is its second pandemic. I flip on the light and notice the car is completely covered with a fine membrane of dust. The coating is so even, unbroken and perfect, it almost seems wrong to disturb it, but the long period of hibernating in suspended animation is over and in a few minutes, we'll be testing the legend of the Tin Lizzie's faithful start-up reliability. I pour a few gallons of anti-freeze into the radiator and hook the battery up to a charger, the dangling cables of which brush up against a fender, ruining the perfection of the sifted-dust cocoon.
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While the electrons are getting packed in, I check the Flivver's logbook. Yes, yes; I keep a log of all the trips, the mileage, fuel consumption, the interval between oil-changes and all that jazz. It's a throwback to the days when my favorite plaything had aluminum wings instead of wood-spoked wheels. Geeze, it must be almost twenty years since I've flown an airplane. That feels like three lifetimes ago (the one in between being that era when things were normal and a man entering a bank with a mask over his face was seen as cause for grievous concern. Lately, I've felt more threatened when someone enters without a mask). Over the course of the past year, our world, for a number of reasons, had become a strange and unfamiliar place and now anything approaching what we used to think of as normal feels somehow wrong. Hmm... the log says the old gal is due for an oil-change and chassis-lube. I'll have to remember to pick up a case of 5W-30. The unchanging, routine maintenance requirements of this old car serve as a dependable point of reference, its sameness a reassuring comfort like the immutability of gravity—the way it is, is the way it has always been.
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Now, as I putter around the garage, little mundane things once so unnoticeably insignificant jump into the center of my awareness. A fumbled wrench hits the concrete floor with that familiar ping and as I bend to pick it up, notice the prettiness of a dripped necklace of anti-freeze droplets glowing in the dim light of a naked bulb like neon-green pearls. There's that faint, old-car-in-a-garage atmosphere; the mixed scent of motor-oil, axle-grease and coolant. Oh, it's good to be back in this grimy little world! I swing the garage door open like a giant roll-top desk and the shocking glare of sunlight floods the place, chases shadows behind cardboard boxes, splashes saturated color all over and gives me a half-minute case of the squints. The warm breath of a springtime breeze and the tingle of sunlight feel good on my skin. It's a good day for a ride.
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The old car's fuel-tank valve feels stiff from disuse so I make a mental note to spray it with penetrating oil after we return. The spring-loaded master switch brings the retrofitted electrical system on line with a resounding clack. I flip the hand-crank over a couple of times with the choke pulled out, then climb aboard, twist the ignition key to the "battery" position and, unexpectedly, the engine bursts into life with a spontaneous "free start." Kisskisskisskisskisskisskiss. Well, how 'bout that? Guess the ol' gal is also eager to get on the road again. As we slowly back out of the garage, the harsh sunlight changes the color of her paint from dead-black to blue-black and the diaphanous coat of dust makes her look sort of fuzzy. After a quick wipe-down, she's once again all nice and shiny and pretty. I do a brief walk-around inspection and finding nothing in need of attention, away we go.
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There's a sort of paradox to feeling giddily excited about driving a car that only clunks along at a sedate 30 mph, but I'm smiling like a farting baby as we make our languid way through town. The neighbors wave and the cars honk and I give 'em a few squawks from the Klaxon and wave back even though I know I'm not the star of this show; it's all about the ridiculously incongruous rolling anachronism with the ornamental brass and the raucous ahooga-horn. Yeah, everybody loves that horn.
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The weekly neighborhood cruise-ins start up a few weeks after the onset of Daylight-Savings time and I'm looking forward to hanging out with the bunch of car-friends I haven't seen in well over a year. I pull into the shopping-center parking lot amidst all manner of classic cars sporting two-tone paint jobs and great big tailfins, whitewall tires and acres of chrome. And there's Jimmy with his colossal '59 Caddy. He and our buddy, Jackie, are waving me over to their circle of beach-chairs around a folding table upon which sits a stack of paper plates and the first pizza of the car-show season. I shut down the engine and step off the running-board and I feel like I should give everybody a great big hug, but the uneasiness of Covid is still felt and we settle for awkward smiles and fist bumps. How I've missed these guys! So we sit around as the sun slowly descends, and we shoot the breeze, catching up on who almost perished from the virus and who had what medical procedure and how our arthritis hurts and how the new paint-job looks real good on Jimmy's car. His portable boom-box is playing oldies and cold pizza never tasted so good. Oh yeah, we're back!

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perry kete
Posts: 1563
Joined: Sun Jan 06, 2019 11:46 am
First Name: Dennis
Last Name: Seth
* REQUIRED* Type and Year of Model Ts owned: 1922 Coupe 1927 Touring
Location: Jefferson Ohio

Re: On the Road Again

Post by perry kete » Mon Apr 12, 2021 6:21 pm

Very enjoyable story and very well written. Thanks for posting
1922 Coupe & 1927 Touring


Dollisdad
Posts: 2778
Joined: Wed Jan 16, 2019 10:13 pm
First Name: Tom
Last Name: Rootlieb
Location: Ohio
MTFCA Number: 440

Re: On the Road Again

Post by Dollisdad » Mon Apr 12, 2021 6:30 pm

Amen! Feels good to get out again.

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Angmar
Posts: 341
Joined: Sun Jan 06, 2019 7:11 pm
First Name: Mark
Last Name: Bailey
* REQUIRED* Type and Year of Model Ts owned: 1918 Roadster P/U
Location: Colorado
MTFCA Number: 50335
Board Member Since: 2016

Re: On the Road Again

Post by Angmar » Mon Apr 12, 2021 7:54 pm

Agreed, well written. Thank you for the story.
Still crankin old iron

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RajoRacer
Posts: 4308
Joined: Sun Jan 06, 2019 12:18 pm
First Name: Steve
Last Name: Tomaso
* REQUIRED* Type and Year of Model Ts owned: 1914 Touring, 1919 Centerdoor, 1924 TT C-Cab Express, 1925 Racer
Location: Longbranch, WA
MTFCA Number: 14972
MTFCI Number: 15411
Board Member Since: 2001

Re: On the Road Again

Post by RajoRacer » Mon Apr 12, 2021 8:26 pm

Great story Bob - are you a writer also ?


Gil Fitzhugh
Posts: 73
Joined: Sun Jan 06, 2019 1:39 pm
First Name: Gilbert
Last Name: Fitzhugh
* REQUIRED* Type and Year of Model Ts owned: 1914 touring
Location: Morristown, NJ 07960
MTFCI Number: 20696

Re: On the Road Again

Post by Gil Fitzhugh » Mon Apr 12, 2021 11:30 pm

Yeah, he's a writer, and a damn good one. Thank, Bob. I needed that!

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Steve Jelf
Posts: 6463
Joined: Fri Jan 04, 2019 9:37 pm
First Name: Steve
Last Name: Jelf
* REQUIRED* Type and Year of Model Ts owned: 1923 touring and a few projects
Location: Parkerfield, Kansas
MTFCA Number: 16175
MTFCI Number: 14758
Board Member Since: 2007
Contact:

Re: On the Road Again

Post by Steve Jelf » Tue Apr 13, 2021 12:23 am

Bob is our best writer. His reminiscence of the nuns is wonderful. When I saw this piece earlier today I hoped he would post it here.
The inevitable often happens.
1915 Runabout
1923 Touring

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david_dewey
Posts: 521
Joined: Sun Jan 06, 2019 12:42 pm
First Name: David
Last Name: Dewey
* REQUIRED* Type and Year of Model Ts owned: 1916 touring, 1925 runaboaut, 1926 Tudor
Location: Oroville, CA
MTFCI Number: 19936
Board Member Since: 1999

Re: On the Road Again

Post by david_dewey » Tue Apr 13, 2021 2:31 am

Bob, that was wonderful, great images!
Thank you!!
T'ake care,
David Dewey


Wayne Sheldon
Posts: 3637
Joined: Sun Jan 06, 2019 3:13 pm
First Name: Wayne
Last Name: Sheldon
* REQUIRED* Type and Year of Model Ts owned: 1915 Runabout 1913 Speedster
Location: Grass Valley California, USA
Board Member Since: 2005

Re: On the Road Again

Post by Wayne Sheldon » Tue Apr 13, 2021 3:37 am

Very nice!

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Oldav8tor
Posts: 1929
Joined: Sun Jan 06, 2019 11:39 am
First Name: Tim
Last Name: Juhl
* REQUIRED* Type and Year of Model Ts owned: 1917 Touring
Location: Thumb of Michigan
MTFCA Number: 50297
MTFCI Number: 24810
Board Member Since: 2018

Re: On the Road Again

Post by Oldav8tor » Tue Apr 13, 2021 9:39 am

We may not be able to express ourselves as well as Bob but hopefully all of us will be able to share a similar experience this year. A brighter future awaits!
1917 Touring
1946 Aeronca Champ
1952 Willys M38a1 Jeep (sold 2023)
1953 Ford Jubilee Tractor

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