You lucky folks who live in nice, warm climates have no idea what it’s like to watch the seasons come and go. It’s a beautiful thing to live through the changes that each season brings. Except if you like to drive.
It’s no big deal when the leaves start to fall and the sky gets cold. The lush green turns to grey. The air turns and you can see your breath. And then the white stuff starts to fall. It’s okay. It’s a new thing to do. Walking the dog in the snow. It’s white and clean and fresh. But something is gone.
A few miles from home your Pantera sits quietly. Waiting. In my case, it sits next to my Mustang in nice warm garage. A giant hi-rise garage filled with summer toys. My cars are waxed and filled with fluids. They are covered and wrapped in a procedure that I’ve followed for years. The tires are pumped up with air. And they just wait. Like a dog sleeping waiting for you to do something.
During the spring summer and fall, my garage at home is a man’s palace. Clean like a hospital and filled with tools, parts and all things Pantera. But in the winter, it becomes home to my wife and daughter’s dirty, ignored, SUVs. They roll in and out, day after day and sit there dripping all night long. They drag salt and dirt into my garage until the floor becomes crusty and white. As it becomes as mess, the family drags any unwanted crap and drops it in the garage. It is a sad and forlorn place in the winter. And that’s what’s wrong with that season. Every day as I leave the house, I walk into a filthy garage and have nothing to look at or play with. No fixes to get into. No parts to redo. It’s downright depressing.
Well today, folks, is the day I wait for every year. Sometimes I think it will never come, The snow is still around but the streets are dry. It starts to get warm enough outside to roll down a window. I wait for a few days of rain, enough to wash all the salt off the roads. It’s enough to make a depressed guy smile. So finally, today I blew off work, removed the ugly SUVs from the garage and got to work.
I washed and scrubbed and sprayed and scraped. And after a couple of hours, the floors were shiny black again. I filed messy papers, put a million small parts back where they belong and lugged stuff out of the garage and into a dozen different parts of the house. The tools were clean and in all place. The counter was clean and ready for work.
I checked out the roads to and from the garage where my toys awaited, to make sure there were no wet, messy, muddy or salty sections of asphalt to deal with on the way home. And then I grabbed my tools and keys, license plates and registrations and went to see my babies. I unlocked the covers. Shook the dust off them, then folded and rolled them into their bags. Sweet. Still clean and shiny after a long long winter.
I connected the cat’s battery and all the autolights came on. Doors, interior, nav system. So far so good. I put the key in and cranked away without feeding any fuel to the carb. It cranked nicely and smoothly and after 20 seconds the oil pressure came right up. I turned it off, pumped the loud pedal a few times and turned the key. Like I had just driven it an hour ago, it growled to life and idled smooth as can be. While she warmed up, I got the rest of my junk together, let the excess air out of the tires, then got in and drove away. Effortlessly. What an amazing car. Up the ramps, firing off car alarms everywhere, then out into the cool sunshine. The ride home was way too short. I wanted to go nuts, but there were too many cars and I was making sure all was working smoothly. Which it was. Not a creak or a squeak or a rattle of a groan. A few minutes later she was home, sitting where she belonged. Happy as a kitten in the sun. Me too.
I hooked up the battery charger to top off the Optima, then went back and did the same thing to the Mustang. Same deal. A 500hp SVT Cobra convertible. Almost as much fun. But not quite.
And so, after a few hours of dusting, polishing and inspecting, here I am. Showered clean and back on the couch. Logging onto the PI Board. Happy to have reduced a bad ticket in court. Glad I took off work. And happy to have my babies at home. Good to go anytime I want. Glad winter’s over. Glad to have Pantera family to share it all with.
They say you don’t really miss things until they’re gone. Maybe that’s what we in the North like about the seasons. Makes us appreciate the warm weather more. But then again, if you stop banging your head against the wall, it feels better too. So I dunno. I don’t care though. My cat is back and I am smiling that stupid grin again.
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