Rollin' Old School

My handsome husband drives a classic 1965 Ford truck. It has been in his family for nearly thirty years. His dad bought it from the original owner for Joel's older brother's first vehicle. When Older Brother got a job and purchased a totally rockin' '79 TransAm (brown, complete with huge Firebird sticker on the hood), the truck reverted back to Poppy, my precious father-in-law, who drove it for many years. He was the jr. high principal here in our small town. When he finally opted for a new truck, the ol' Ford made its way to our home. The truck is a most distinctive color of 60's mint green and therefore impossible to escape unnoticed. We hardly ever go anywhere that someone doesn't say, "I remember your dad driving that old truck. When he pulled up at the Jr. Hi, it struck fear in our hearts. There was this one time when we (insert stupid jr. high prank here) and, oooooowheeee!, he lit our backsides on fire!" (I hope you read that with your very best redneck twang...and a plug of tobacco makes it sound even more authentic. And I must add that Poppy is what I like to call a "gentle giant". He doesn't say much, but when he does, people listen. And those were the days when corporal punishment was not only legal, but encouraged. To get "licks" from Mr. B was a rite of passage.) But I digress...
Its fun to go to Sonic in the old truck on a summer evening and get a vanilla coke...very "American Graffiti". One of my favorite sights is Joel driving down the road with his arm on the back of the seat and the girls' heads just barely visable from behind, of course now that Hannah is taller than me, its lost a little something, but it was soooo cute when she used to wear that little "fountain head" ponytail on top of her head. I also enjoy riding "cowboy girlfriend" style by sitting in the middle even when no one else is with us (especially because it embarasses HannahKate). Now all this nostalgia is not without cost. The truck does not have air conditioning and only in the past year did we add power steering and power brakes. Due to said lack of power steering/brakes and the fact that engine is more powerful than the Space Shuttle thrusters, I have never been able to drive the old beast until now...which was originally the point of this story. But now I've gone on and on and on and I think Blogger might have a word limit on its posts. (Or maybe because I don't like to read really long blogs, I assume other people are the same way) Anyway, I'll stop here and save the adventure for next time...