Friends:
It has been eight years since I bought my 72 Emerald car, 2003. And eight
years that I've been a very small part of this forum. It's been a great ride
and you all are among the most generous friends I've never met. I listed my
car for sale on Hemmings.com five days ago. It sold three days later, which
astonished me. Dumb luck, I guess. Life has gotten very crazy in the past
year. My sister has non-curable cancer, my wife was diagnosed with aggressive
cancer in March, and my father passed away last month. It is time to simplify
my life.
I sign off from this list with a bit of the email I sent to the new owner of
my car. I think it probably applies to a lot of you all out there.
I encourage you to drive the car as much as you can before you make any
changes on it. Learn the car. It will talk to you, if you listen to it. Unlike
modern cars, you can feel the car; the lifters ticking, the piston slap, the
carb sucking air into the motor's lungs, the clutch engagement
sighing noise. The manual choke requires a only a deft touch. Everything you
see is what it appears to be - metal, plastic, wood, rubber. Nothing is
representational, no secrets, no deceptions. I suppose this sounds somewhat
Zen-like but these old cars communicate in ways that modern stuff that
is oh-so-refined and filtered cannot.
If you infer that I am passionate about the car that will soon no longer be
mine, you are correct. During its rebirth I bumped my head on it uncountable
times. I screamed at it. I cried over it. I bled upon it. People probably
snickered skeptically at me as I labored hours into the night. It will always
carry a bit of me until it is junked. It's not like birthing a child, but once
you go through that process working mostly alone, there is a connection
created that endures beyond the completion of the work.
I wish you all well. Keep the lights burning brightly in Lucas Land!
Jim Jones
Jefferson City, MO
________________________________________
6pack@autox.team.net
Donate: http://www.team.net/donate.html
Archive: http://www.team.net/archive
Forums: http://www.team.net/forums
|