I looked forward to the wings. Every time we flew down to the house in Clearwater, some impossibly beautiful woman would pin a set of Eastern junior pilot wings on me. The flight seemed to take forever but it was also over almost immediately; I can’t explain. Then Granddad would be there at the gate and we would walk out to his impeccable Cutlass or Eldorado and we would take the causeway to his house with the wrought-iron “B” on the gates.
The air smelled different, like gecko lizards and sand and palm trees. For three or four days I was granted a temporary reprieve from reality, my infinitely patient grandfather taking me to the beach and the country club and the pool. It was hard to go to sleep every night. Sometimes I’d stay up all night and read the hilariously age-inappropriate paperbacks that littered the guest room.
No wings for my son; instead of flying Eastern to Clearwater we drove the Accord to Hilton Head. But the rest of it I think I can see through his eyes and it looks like what I remember.
Thirty-seven years have passed but nothing has changed. My father has become my grandfather, kind and patient with John. Still the same humid air. I left a new copper Foreverspin top out on the kitchen counter for two nights and it now has a deep patina. The new Eldorado has become a new E350, chrome edges on the Sport aerokit a sort of accidental tribute to the Biarritz stainless roof. Dad drives it with the same genial distracted quality I remember from my grandfather.
There is a beach, too. I drove there alone, before dawn this morning. Sat out in the sand, waiting for the sun. Truthfully I’d prefer to be at Clearwater Beach, with its deep expanse of sand and the placid Gulf and the infinite armies of perfect teenagers, but this is the beach my son will remember.
Tonight I explained to John that he has just two days left here. He made a sort of keening noise and threw himself onto his bed. This, too, is familiar. I never wanted to go home, either. I still do not. Tomorrow I will take him to the beach for the last time. We all have places that we need to go next. But to see the happiness in his face makes my memories feel true again. Even if they are not.
And the seasons they go round and round
And the painted ponies go up and down
We’re captive on the carousel of time
We can’t return we can only look behind
From where we came
And go round and round and round
In the circle game
Alright, let’s step off this carousel and see what Bark and I got done this week.
My brother contributed another installment of the insanely popular Ask Bark and the second half of his series on dealership business.
For R&T, I quoted the Apostle Paul and recalled an unsavory seller.
I used Dad’s plantation as a backdrop for an Accord long-term update and I offered an opinion about what VW should do next.
Next week both Bark and I will be sharing our impressions of what is likely to be the most interesting new car we’ll drive this year. Stick around for it.
Where the heck was Thursday’s Bark article?
It might show up tomorrow, in which case I’ll adjust 🙂
and…done!
Thanks for missing me! I accidentally left my laptop at one of my remote office locations overnight, and I didn’t feel like typing up an article on my iPhone 🙂
I was down in Charleston last week visiting a woman I know that’s stationed in Charleston. I never thought that I would long for the Ohio Turnpike until I was driving through Delaware at 1:00 on a Monday night.
Also, I’ve come to find out that the booth operators on the W. Virginia Turnpike don’t find it amusing that one would knowingly NOT bring cash for the tolls. The $5.00 “fine” was less than my hotel’s ATM fee..
Safe travels home, or wherever you end up next.
I just got back home from Celina (OH,) went down and came back up 75 so I missed the turnpike.
good lord, is the whole state doing road construction? not only is there nothing to see between Celina/St. Mary’s, Findlay, and Toledo, you’ve got to deal with lane shifts and closures in order to not see it.
I can’t deal with it anymore. I try to avoid the 280 bridge at all costs, but it at least allows me to bypass most of the construction on 75.
The same stretch of road was under construction last March when I went to Columbus, and was still in pieces last week.
My favorite part is where you get off on an exit north of Willys/Jeep Parkway only to turn around an overpass and get back on the freeway. Three weeks ago we did it in a Penske box truck after leaving Naples 30 hour prior. It was a fun trip…
Nice Jack ;
.
I always enjoy reading about normal Father and Son things .
.
I had dinner and lots of Shop Talk with my Son Wednesday,watched a movie and then his three year old Daughter came home in tears with a tummy ache , watching him pick her up and comfort her melted my heart…..
.
Sometimes parenting can be a real bitch but the rewards are off the charts .
.
-Nate
I just read the smack Miata story. You could make that one into a an old fashioned TV movie of the week with James Garner as you, Barbara Billingsly as wife #1, Pat Morita as the doctor, and a guest cameo by Tom Petty as the kid with 65 serialized Benjamins.
How did you manage to go this long without telling us about that Miata? Please, stay busy; and never run out of stories!
I wanted to wait until two other people were dead as well — and that’s a story I’ll be telling shortly.
Enjoyed the smack Miata article!
Thank you!
I used to start counting down the days until our trip to the beach from the last day of school until the eventual trip in July or August. For us, it was an 11 hour drive from PA down to the beach house on HHI in the 92 Pontiac Trans Sport, and later the Nissan Quest. The Maryland line was 15 minutes, followed by the Washington Monument, the slog through VA, and the South of the Border billboards, which culminated in the Giant Sombrero. Getting out of the minivan for a bathroom stop you felt the sticky air and noticed how much louder the insects chirped. Then there was the smell of the chlorine pool, the rotten surf, and the burgundy leather in my grandpa’s 93 Maxima beach car. We dreaded our return home. I don’t think my dad will ever settle down enough to buy anything in the spirit of my grandpa’s Town Car’s, but he’s as close as he’s going to get with his latest import – a 300CE-24 5-speed.
“300CE-24 5-speed”
Oooh.
How much do you have to hate a car to say ‘no thank you’ when someone offers it to you for free?
Good article on the power to weight ratio. I have Mustang GT and a first generation Miata as my daily drivers. Well, the Miata gets parked for the winter.
While the Mustang is a great car and it absolutely smokes the Miata in any kind of speed contest, it’s the Miata that I really love to drive. Yeah, I know it’s slow. But it’s FUN.
You know, the Brothers Baruth are the only remaining reason to visit TTAC. Sorry - I know you guys have admirable allegiance to the site - but it’s true.
Agreed, not so much fun unless Jack or Mark has an article, new comment policy does not favor people with a conservative voice.
Brother Bark and I have voiced our concerns to Mr. Stevenson about that.
In the end, it’s his call.
I never banned anybody and I never had to ask people twice to change their behavior. But I don’t want to second-guess Mark any more than I would have wanted Ed Tweeternoodle second-guessing me.
Thanks for sharing that opinion. As Jack said, I’ve mentioned to Mark that we are leaning more to the left nowadays, and there are already plenty of automotive sites for a liberal audience.
I don’t see it that way. It’s not stacked against “conservative voices,” it’s that a couple of those voices ruined it for everybody by their excessive ranting and dragging comment threads off into the weeds, over and over and over and over and over again. Especially egregious when the article itself had absolutely zero to do with what they’re ranting about. It’s as bad as the constant de-railings by Lou_BC, DenverMike, and Big Al from Oz as they swipe at each other thanks to their longstanding grudges from pickuptrucks.com.
I think the perception is that somebody like Pch101 can get away with anything but BigTrucks was banned for being too “uppity”.
_THIS_ .
.
There’s another regular poster who has a complete pas after bragging for a long time about lying cheating and stealing his way though a Military career .
.
Not things I’d brag abut were I like that but some don’t ‘get’ it
.
-Nate
Conservative/Liberal makes no real difference as long as one is Honest and forthright .
.
I’m more Conservative than most you’ll ever meet yet I get called liberal (and worse) because I insist on honesty , be it make one look good or bad .
.
I like not only the articles here but the wide ranging comments , they’re better than any School / College I ever attended , life stories and examples being used to flesh out ideas and facts is always good .
.
Over at that *other* site , Paul clearly has a hard on for me , I can’t help this .
.
Mark and Jack are excellent writers but all have a place at the table .
.
-Nate