Today, dawned foggy, partly cloudy, but otherwise, seasonably mild. My mother is in a wonderful nursing facility seven miles away from my house. Like all such facilities, it has its problems, but none are perfect. It is a beautiful campus, with a pond, landscaped drive into the grounds. Instead of a huge “institutional” single building, there are residential “Cottages.” Each cottage has twelve private rooms, with a kitchen, large community room, and as much of a “family” atmosphere as possible.
With Christmas so near, it was time to deliver a little Christmas cheer to the staff for the hard work they do for my mother and neighbor residents in her cottage. I decided it would be an excellent time to pull my ‘55 Truck out of the barn and drive it to the facility. For the season, I have a Snoopy Doll wearing goggles & a Santa hat in the matching “Pedal Truck” along with a small Christmas tree in the bed. A great season display. My wife has never enjoyed all the attention the Studebaker draws, she had rather “blend in,” so she followed behind in her silver Camry.
All the way there, folks were giving thumbs up. At a traffic light on the way home, a young lady pulls up beside me, lets her window down and shouted “THAT’S SO COOL!”
This happened at one of the busiest intersections in our town. Four & six lanes plus turn lanes. The light changed, I released the clutch and off we went...suddenly...sputter...falter…and my engine died!
All that Christmas spirit, suddenly evaporated, busy folks slamming on brakes, changing lanes, charging by like…GET TH’ HELL OUTTA TH’ WAY!!!
A couple of tries, it would fire up and die again.
Then, I had to jump out, run back to my wife’s car, and show her the “emergency” flasher switch. She had never had to use it. Before I could get back to my truck, I looked up and there was a big heavy duty Ford Dually truck (North Carolina license plate) backing toward my truck. A rather grubby, dirty, but smiling young man, jumps out and greets me with a smile.
“Where you wanna go?” he asked. “Just up to the next driveway,” I said. (Referring to the parking lot of a closed business a few yards up.) He quickly dropped his tailgate, whipped out a tow chain, and in a couple of minutes, had my truck hooked up. This person certainly knew what he was doing, and how to do it without scarring, or jerking my truck around. With me steering, we had my truck out of harms way in a jiffy. I offered to pay him, but he declined. I told him I could handle the situation from there, he shook my hand and headed on back to N.C.
A phone call to a friend, who owns a tow service, had me waiting about a half hour before he could get to me. Turned out to be a $70 five mile ride. Years ago, that would have me very upset. Years ago, I was not 73 years old. Mike carefully & gently offloaded the truck in my driveway. I paid him, shook his hand and sent him on his way. My wife had already driven home and was busy lovingly preparing a meal.
So...after no one was looking, I got my gas can, poured about three gallons in the tank, cranked up the truck, and drove it back into the barn.
This is the first Studebaker I ever had. You would think that after 40+ years, I would know better than trust a 62 year old gas gauge.
Oh well...I’m just happy to be home, and thankful that I could reach in my wallet and find $70.
(I remember when I couldn’t) And after all these years, my truck's first roll-back ride.
MERRY CHRISTMAS, HAPPY HOLIDAYS, & HAPPY NEW YEAR!
With Christmas so near, it was time to deliver a little Christmas cheer to the staff for the hard work they do for my mother and neighbor residents in her cottage. I decided it would be an excellent time to pull my ‘55 Truck out of the barn and drive it to the facility. For the season, I have a Snoopy Doll wearing goggles & a Santa hat in the matching “Pedal Truck” along with a small Christmas tree in the bed. A great season display. My wife has never enjoyed all the attention the Studebaker draws, she had rather “blend in,” so she followed behind in her silver Camry.
All the way there, folks were giving thumbs up. At a traffic light on the way home, a young lady pulls up beside me, lets her window down and shouted “THAT’S SO COOL!”
This happened at one of the busiest intersections in our town. Four & six lanes plus turn lanes. The light changed, I released the clutch and off we went...suddenly...sputter...falter…and my engine died!
All that Christmas spirit, suddenly evaporated, busy folks slamming on brakes, changing lanes, charging by like…GET TH’ HELL OUTTA TH’ WAY!!!
Then, I had to jump out, run back to my wife’s car, and show her the “emergency” flasher switch. She had never had to use it. Before I could get back to my truck, I looked up and there was a big heavy duty Ford Dually truck (North Carolina license plate) backing toward my truck. A rather grubby, dirty, but smiling young man, jumps out and greets me with a smile. “Where you wanna go?” he asked. “Just up to the next driveway,” I said. (Referring to the parking lot of a closed business a few yards up.) He quickly dropped his tailgate, whipped out a tow chain, and in a couple of minutes, had my truck hooked up. This person certainly knew what he was doing, and how to do it without scarring, or jerking my truck around. With me steering, we had my truck out of harms way in a jiffy. I offered to pay him, but he declined. I told him I could handle the situation from there, he shook my hand and headed on back to N.C.
A phone call to a friend, who owns a tow service, had me waiting about a half hour before he could get to me. Turned out to be a $70 five mile ride. Years ago, that would have me very upset. Years ago, I was not 73 years old. Mike carefully & gently offloaded the truck in my driveway. I paid him, shook his hand and sent him on his way. My wife had already driven home and was busy lovingly preparing a meal.
So...after no one was looking, I got my gas can, poured about three gallons in the tank, cranked up the truck, and drove it back into the barn.
This is the first Studebaker I ever had. You would think that after 40+ years, I would know better than trust a 62 year old gas gauge. Oh well...I’m just happy to be home, and thankful that I could reach in my wallet and find $70. (I remember when I couldn’t) And after all these years, my truck's first roll-back ride.MERRY CHRISTMAS, HAPPY HOLIDAYS, & HAPPY NEW YEAR!
BP
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