tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post1681098312934801985..comments2024-03-28T06:41:07.968-05:00Comments on Every goddamn day: 03/28/24: The Saturday Snapshot #32Neil Steinberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11468057838260476480noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-52928179164868474802019-03-30T20:21:38.983-05:002019-03-30T20:21:38.983-05:00My wife and I were leaving a carnival when I saw m...My wife and I were leaving a carnival when I saw my father's car in the parking lot...I felt as though he'd kept it garaged for forty years and suddenly brought it out and was waiting to give us a ride. Walked around and around it several times, while my wife stood and watched my jaw drop.<br /><br />Same shiny plaid seat covers, same gray fuzzy velour headliner, same white bakelite knob on the steering-column shift lever, and the same silver knob(for the wipers) on the dashboard, right in the middle, between the two halves of the split-window windshield. <br /><br />It was the first car my old man ever bought, at the ripe old age of 28. I was not yet two, and it was the first car I can remember riding in. No BMW...not even a BFD...just a light green '49 Plymouth four-door sedan, with the clipper ship hood ornament. He parked it on the street, in front of our Garfield Park apartment building. <br /><br />Since that cool August night in 1995, I've seen the same car on several occasions, mostly sittng behind the bandstand in a local park, during summer concerts. Apparently, a member of a big-band jazz orchestra owns it. Or maybe not. In a metro area this size, I suppose there could easily be more than one.Grizz 65https://www.blogger.com/profile/02892702223228764894noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-52796094110877907072019-03-30T14:02:27.302-05:002019-03-30T14:02:27.302-05:00Nice-looking car! No wonder you were so nostalgic ...Nice-looking car! No wonder you were so nostalgic about it.Bitter Scribehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04645909858616987997noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-66579817680379747192019-03-30T14:00:36.464-05:002019-03-30T14:00:36.464-05:00It was a Packard, mid 30's I'd say, pulled...It was a Packard, mid 30's I'd say, pulled into my gas station one day in the mid 70's. I remember it still from that single viewing though some details escape me. It was long and beautiful, perfectly kept or restored. Running boards with spare tires stashed on both sides just behind the front fenders. The chrome shined all around the car, the accessories added to the body stylishly rather than styled into the body. The interior spacious and well appointed. It was a work of art, equal to the stories my father had related about the brand, that day being the first time I had encountered one. Today my phone would get a workout seeing that car. It doesn't have the sentimental value of a first car, but I would trade all the surviving 1800's for that Packard. JPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08613528527379198505noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-58214418645519614832019-03-30T08:32:48.208-05:002019-03-30T08:32:48.208-05:00Sounds a bit Proustian. Although Proust would hav...Sounds a bit Proustian. Although Proust would have elaborated more than a bit. Very likely 4 or 5 pages would not have adequately described his infatuation. Personally, my only car nostalgia is for rumble seats.<br /><br />john<br /><br />Johntatehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10088632798195131329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-90656646626227918502019-03-30T05:30:01.863-05:002019-03-30T05:30:01.863-05:00Sometimes hope is all we have. As long as it doesn...Sometimes hope is all we have. As long as it doesn't become delusional. Paul Fedrickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04384556977324071639noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-53114633955033646222019-03-30T04:16:04.075-05:002019-03-30T04:16:04.075-05:00I've done the same sort of thing myself. Liter...I've done the same sort of thing myself. Literally and, alas, figuratively as well.Joyce Meggetthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03960858859262567707noreply@blogger.com