2007 3-Series BMW Coupe – Photo-Artistry by kenne
September 23, 2013
AUTOMOLOVE
A few weeks ago,
while hiking on Mt. Lemmon,
someone backed into my car
just as I was returning
to the ski-lift parking lot.
I didn’t see it happen,
but most of my hiking friends did
and began shouting:
“Someone just backed into your car!”
“What? Not my car,” I thought.
While trying to keep my composure,
I sought to exchange information.
The damage was not that obvious,
so she was ready to leave — no way!
Four weeks later, after back and forth
with her insurance company,
they agreed to do the repair,
right, all $1,600 worth.
My car is now home,
in the garage, looking like new.
This was only my third experience
with having body shop work:
once in the sixties on my 1963 VW,
then in the nineties on my 1984 BMW,
now in the twenty-teens.
Each minor, but each traumatic —
I don’t take easy to being
outside my level of perfection.
Believe me, it wasn’t easy
also being a dirt-bike owner!
What is it about guys and cars?
At least some guys and cars.
I’m one of those “car guys” –
one of the best feelings
I know is having a clean car,
not from a car wash –
You have to do it yourself.
It’s an expression of caring
that strengthens the bond —
like petting your cat, it purrs.
For me, the attraction started
when I first rode in Granddad’s Chevy.
It was the smell, the dashboard, and the look.
It was so clean, inside and out –
he was an original
“inny and outy” guy.
He didn’t have a garage on the farm,
but when they moved to town,
he converted the old smokehouse
Into a dirt-floor garage.
What I remember most was
the understated body language
from Granddad toward his car.
If you know the look,
then you know what I mean.
It was pride, some call it “car pride” —
a symbol of what has been nurtured
In our hopes and aspirations,
which we express with gentle gratitude
as we travel the highways of life.
My car is a means of transportation
as was the horse in its day.
The words of Shakespeare still apply
to best express the bond
between me and my car:
“When I bestride him,
I soar, I am a hawk.
He trots the air,
The earth sings
when he touches it.”
kenne
Great rendering of one of my favourite cars!
My car is my best friend as we travel together everywhere. Recently, someone backed into my car at a restaurant parking lot and damaged the bumper but didn’t care to leave any information behind for me while I was inside having dinner with friends. You were fortunate to make that connection.