‘Drove My Chevy To The Levee’ (Bisbee, May 18, 2012) — Image by kenne
I started singin’ bye-bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry
Them good old boys were drinkin’ whiskey and rye
And singin’ “This’ll be the day that I die
This’ll be the day that I die”
— from American Pie, Pt. 1 by Don McLean
1956 Chevy Bel Air Taillight — HDR Image by kenne
Soul of a Car — Image by kenne
Soul of a Car
Signs of age
Tell the story
Miles on the gauge
Count the glory
Now at rest
In the shade
Once the best
Of the fifties decade
There is a key
Only to a past
Now rest free
At long last
A rusty door
A broken fan blade
Longing for more
Feeling only frayed
Having a heart
A few remaining horses
Seeking a start
From special forces
Old cars can rust
But never the soul
Covered with dust
Stuck in cruse control
… the road always calls.
— kenne
How do you measure the soul of a driving machine? — by measuring the soul of the driver.
The soul of the 318i that I bought, September 1983,
and sold, September 2007 can only be measured by those
intangibles by which we measure passion.
It is not my nature to dwell on the past, but parting with something
that was an extension of my very being was not easy. If there is one
image that reflects more than a third of my life, it was this little BMW.
Parting with the 318i was not like the loss of my generation’s innocence
as immortalized in Don McLean’s “American Pie”,
even though our passion for cars is not shared by Millennials.
For me, neither the music nor the cars have died —
not ready to say “Bye, bye Miss American Pie.”
kenne
My current BMW 2007 3-Series Coupe with my 1984 3-Series Coupe. It took almost a year after getting the 2007 before parting with my 1984.
Image by kenne
