My Loving Spouse is smitten with Nelly. He thinks about her, talks about her and is making plans for her. It is a good thing she is a very old, rusty truck or I could be just a wee bit jealous. I guess for him this truck is a bit like my cow obsession, a lot of our conversations begin as if we’d both been talking about her or at least thinking about her, when really it was just him.
“Sweetie, can you imagine that NAPA has the parts for that truck just sitting on the shelf?” he said, with awe in his voice. I agreed that it was indeed amazing, well, because I am a good wife and eye rolling is not nice, not when one of us is obsessed. After all he went and sat looking at cows with me for a very long time, the least I can do is be encouraging when it comes to truck parts. After all, even I can admit that parts being easily available for a truck that is older than I am is sort of incredible. (Note to the offspring: NO eye rolling!)
His friends old and new are also happily into his truck obsession. This week we have Dear John and Dear John’s Wife with us and in the middle of a perfectly good conversation one of these men go off on a truck tangent and start speaking in a completely different language. It happens so regularly that Dear John’s Wife and I now just look at each other and say, “oh, there they go again”, the change in language is often followed with a change in location and before we know it, they have stopped rebuilding our windows and have pinched the battery out of Jubal again and are putting plugs and cords and stuff into Nelly. Tonight they even made the truck turn over and sound like a truck for a minute, quickly followed by lots of male whooping and hollering… ah, it was a glorious moment. Dear John started to hatch more plans about fuel pumps and towing it to get it to go even farther with My Loving Spouse in the driver’s seat, at which point My Loving Spouse reminded him that there is no driver’s seat.
This picture is actually a few weeks old, as after it was taken My Loving Spouse opened the glove box to find the last registration for Nelly 1973, the original manual 1952 and a plethora of wasp nests. The wasp nests were also in what was left of the seats, which are now sitting in back of the truck with at least one full can of wasp spray being used to protect all Nelly-lovers from their nasty sting.
Nelly was bought for fun and so far she certain is. There is now great debate amongst the male Nelly-lovers… paint her red again or leave her rusty with a clear coat for protection. Big decisions here, big decisions.
My first car (back in 1956) was a 1929 Ford Model A that had been sitting up on blocks for at least 3 years, so I can related at this late date to the allure of bringing something inert back to life. I can also relate to the problems inherent in locating (and affording) the odd bits and pieces that make that vehicle back into a functioning and practical device. I looked at the wing window and the rubber gasket around it and thought, “Where will he EVER find replacement parts?” It ain’t gonna’ be a brief project!
Hi David,
This will be a long job with triumphs and fun along the way.
On another note, I want you to know Ellen, that when a whole list of new emails pops up on my screen, I eagerly read your blog first. It starts my day with laughter!
Thanks Mims,
And it keeps us connected!
As an artist, I would encourage the Nelly Lovers to keep her old rusted red color and just cover with a clear sealer. It took YEARS for Nelly to acquire that gorgeous “old red” color. It’s part of her history and character. No other truck can have that aged look. But every truck can be a ‘new red’.