Wednesday, September 16, 2009

school days and cars


My sister and I were chatting last week about the start of the new
school year. With my last son starting his (hopefully) last year of
college, it was a relatively smooth process to get him off to school.
A far cry from the days of getting three on the bus for their first day
with new haircuts, shoes, lunch boxes and freshly sharpened pencils.

A twinge of nostalgia comes over me this time of year. I long for
the good old days, when the kids were mortified to be seen with us
in public. This conjures a memory, of just such an occasion, when
our youngest son was a freshman in high school. He hadn't yet
turned 16, and still rode the bus most mornings. One particularly
dark, frosty morning, he was running late, so WT agreed to give him
a lift in my car.
.
It was my second favorite car ever; a cute red Volvo 240, with the
recognizable square body they used make. (That's it in the above
photo, parked at Indiana University, one of the many times I drove
my daughter.) Sadly, my oldest son totalled Old Red and she went
to the great car lot in the sky with nearly 200,000 miles to her name.

My all time favorite was the little red VW convertible I owned in the
late 1970's. It looked just like this picture I found online. Oh, what I
would give to still have that sweet baby today. I have a funny story
about my sister and me in this car, but it will have to wait for another
post.

Anyway, I digress. So, being trash collection day, WT packed a
gigantuous load of trash barrels and junk, having cleaned out the
garage the day before, into the open trunk of Old Red. I am not
exaggerating, it rose 10 feet in the air; all he would have needed was
Granny Clampett in a rocking chair on top.

Son and WT hopped into the car, but being 6:45 a.m., a bleary eyed
WT forgot to stop at the end of the drive to deposit the junk yard
rising from the trunk, and continued out onto the road heading
toward school. As they approached the school drive, filled with sleek
Beemers and Jags depositing kids, Son says,

"Um, you can just pull over and I'll get out here."

"I don't mind driving you up to the door."

"Dad, take a look in the mirror."

75 comments:

  1. Bwahahahaha! Willow that's just a scream! And love, love, loooove the Beetle( Mom and Pop had a white one, for their first car, while in Germany )...

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  2. Oh, that looks just like my '84 blue Volvo sedan which now sits forlornly in my driveway with one flat tire and a hose (going who knows to what) missing. It has 256,849 miles on it and the engine just will not quit. Can't say as much for the rest of the car. poor baby. My most favorite car, even more than the Ford/Lincoln Mercury Capri I had which was a sweet car.

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  3. Did he feel like part of the travelling Joads?
    (At what age do children stop being embarrassed by their parents, I wonder?)

    BTW, my Dad used to have a tan VW Bug. It is the first car I remember him driving. The roof would leak if it rained too hard. Good times!

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  4. Yes, it was loaded down just like the Joads on their way to California!

    Fortunately, they finally do outgrow that embarrassed stage, at about 22. :^)

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  5. Love it!!

    My first, and most favorite car ever, was a white Volvo 240 GL (1986). It, too, had over 200,000 miles logged on it. We called it Mazumbo and in later days White Thunder.

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  6. I still get a twinge when my dad talks about doing his stand-up schtick in nursing homes (he belongs to a singing group that performs for nursing homes & seniors groups) - having a ham for a dad is rough on a teenager!

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  7. Oh, I remember the agony of being driven to junior high by my mother in a very uncool car.

    But in high school, how I envied the friend whose rather unconventional mother drove an old hearse.

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  8. Vicki, I've always thought old hearses were kinda cool!

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  9. I'm surprised the trash made it there still hanging out of the trunk like that; I'd have expected a trail from the manor to the school!

    A good friend of mine has a '73 Super Beetle he's in the process of restoring. VW still makes some of the best cars on the road.

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  10. Roy, I'm thinking there most likely WAS a trail of junk leading to and from school!

    (great new avatar, btw)

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  11. What is it with our firstborn sons and totaling cars? ha-ha!

    Your little beetle convertible WAS adorable!

    Remember the school-bus-yellow VW wagon? We dreaded all piling out of it with people watching...as if we had just had a contest as to how many kids could fit in there! ha!

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  12. Nice story. I take my son back to Uni tomorrow and the car will be piled up just like you describe. But it will be with his junk so I suppose that will be allowed.

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  13. Haha, lovely story and lovely blog!
    My favourite car was a Mini Mayfair and I still miss it... Not many of those about anymore. However I do see an awful lot of those Volvo 240's around my part of the world. :-)

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  14. Sons total cars! It's a fact!
    I had a cream VW many years ago in Nigeria. It was my 'buggy' and I loved it. Never mind I had to put a cushion on the seat so i could see over the steering wheel - and I'm not short!

    Children are easily embarrassed i.e. "you're not wearing that are you?"!!

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  15. Yeah, tough to compete with those other cars. Fortunately, high school ends in the 12th grade for most people.

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  16. Reminds me of what we did to keep the teenagers at home; a billiard room and an inground pool. But they'd rather swim in the river than bring mates home with the folks lurking!

    Love the red bug!

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  17. ha. that is awesome. i imagine there will come a day when we are asked to drop the boys at the curb, until then he just rolls his eyes as i dance goodbye to the buss every morning...

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  18. We had to lose our maroon Volvo when we became a family of 6. I still miss it.

    I have to say, I'm with your boy. I'd have asked to be dropped several corners (blocks?) away.

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  19. We had Beetles all the time while I was growing up. They were the only cars that we could afford.

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  20. I love the old Volvos with the recognizable square shape. I wish they still made them. The new ones look like every other car to me.

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  21. I drove myself to school in style, in a 1980 Honda Civic. I could barely fit my hair into it (it was the late 80s after all). By the time I got rid of it, the driver's side door didn't close, and the passenger side rear window was missing. Man did I bag that thing. It was fun!

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  22. Good thing that I'm sitting, because I got dizzy looking at that car! A red convertible old Beetle! *swoon*

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  23. I once went to the grocery store in town(10 miles away) and bought the usual stuff...they parked the cart at the curb to load it for me...only I drove home and walked to the back of my truck to get the groceries...did I mention 10 miles away...

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  24. oh, so funny!! do you have a red car today? i'm thinking there may be a trend here.

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  25. Hey, we still have the 91 Volvo and our son is embarrassed to be seen in public too.

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  26. Hi! Willow,
    I enjoyed reading your post "school days and cars."

    By the way, the "pic" of the little red VW convertible
    (That look similar to your car...) is a pretty "nifty" looking car.
    Thanks, for sharing!
    DeeDee ;-D

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  27. Typo corrected: That look[ed] similar to your car...)

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  28. Tee hee! Your poor son! Best of luck to him in his last year at college.

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  29. I so needed this giggle. My son is in his first year of high school and rides the bus. I have no doubt I will live out a similar version of the rest of your story very, very soon. Thanks for the heads' up.

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  30. Hi, Julie, no, the red trend is broken. I drive a dark green '96 Land Rover Discovery.

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  31. Your story really made we laugh. Our children are our ever watchful keepers to make sure we remain socially adept as we age. Thank you for sharing.=D

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  32. Last night my husband and I attended our last Open House after 19 years. Sending the last one off for his last year of high school evoked many a memory of getting all three of my boys off on the first day of school. Thanks for the post. And I love the bug!

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  33. That is such a great story. I love cars too. Always have. Seems you like red ones. My first car was a green, 1960 VW with a sun roof. I would loved to have had the convert but a sun roof wasn't half bad either.

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  34. Willow, you bring back warm memories of being an embarrassment to my children. Those were the days, my friend...

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  35. Willow,
    That is like, so perfect!
    rel

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  36. Sorry, let me get this clear: are you a VW person, too? Whooopie! That's my dream car and people cannot understand why. I know I am digressing from the main theme of your post, school days. But nothing gets me going like talking or writing about the Beetle. I love its curves, its weirdness (boot on the front) and its name: VolksWagen, people's car. Unfortunately they don't make five-door ones here in the UK. In fact I don't think I've ever seen a five-door one in my life.

    Cracking post and I loved the pic of that VW. And it WAS a convertible one to boot!

    Greetings from London.

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  37. I love the red VW. It's so Wind in the Willow. I savour the moments of my daughter at preschool. I wish I could press time in a book and keep every image and sensation fresh and vivid. xx

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  38. Great Story. :)

    Can't wait to read the one about the Beetle. I am secretly addicted to them.

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  39. Ah cars and memories. You threw me back to my 51 Packard, my $100 car I had in high school.

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  40. Your story reminds me of one of my own. We couldn't avoid hitting a deer that dashed across the freeway in front of us. Poor thing took out the whole passenger side front panel of my Buick station wagon. It was already old, so instead of repairing it we drove it that was until we could purchase a new car. My sons regularly had me stop a block from their school to let them out. So embarrassing!

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  41. Although very different, both shots and cars are really cool!

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  42. I was always happy to see my dad waiting for me outside the school gates but being cool didn't matter so much back then.

    Lovely little VW

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  43. Oh yes, my teenage daughters would have been mortified to be riding with the Beverly Hillbillies!

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  44. Hello Willow,

    WT was fortunate not to be stopped by the highway patrol with his dangerous load!!

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  45. Derrick, even though it's a short drive to the school and not on any highways, I'm still surprised he wasn't stopped by the local police!

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  46. and he didnt say that before they got to school?

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  47. Our son was embarrassed to be seen with us until he was 20. Just kidding, but taking him to school when he got older was embarrassing for him. "Drop me off here." was his daily cry. The "here" being where his friends could not see him.

    I love the VW. I had a baby blue VW in the late 60's, an orange one in the 70's, and in the 80's I bought a classic early 70's yellow VW. I wish I had that blue one today. I am sure it is still running.

    Love your red car. Maybe Mark can bring FU out of the garage and you two can meet up somewhere for a race. Take lots of photos.

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  48. I don't know that we were ever embarrassed by my dad driving us, he had a beat up clunker too, It got to the point where some of our classmates would come over in the a.m. to see if there was room for them. But I know my sons gave me strict rules as to what I could do with/to them when in the school, I was there daily so they had little choice of acknowledging me. Too Bad So Sad.

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  49. My first car was a beautiful old Austin, that I brought for $75 because it had been rolled and the passengerside door no longer opened.

    It would never have been allowed on the road today.

    Instead of turn lights, it had little wings that popped up on the side.

    That was a very funny post and brought back a host of memories.

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  50. Ah, cars we have loved...and sometimes been grateful for. I had a cream Volvo 240 when I was pregnant with my first child, a very nice hand-me-down from my in-laws. I was on my way home from work and coming to a stop light when I saw a young behind me who was going way too fast. I knew he hadn't seen the light change and I was about to get hit hard. He plowed into me, and I was surprised that I barely felt the impact. We got out to survey the damage and found that his front end resembled an accordion, while the Volvo didn't have a scratched bumper. I was grateful to be uninjured and that my baby was safe. Was it God or was it Volvo? A little of each? I just know that after my daughter was born, it's the only car we let her ride in.

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  51. Mahala, (I love your name, by the way. My Cherokee great-great grandmother's name was Mahala.) I always felt like the kids had extra protection learning to drive in a Volvo. We had three of them over the years. They were great cars.

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  52. My first car was a '65 VW Beetle. I wish I had that car again too, I loved it.

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  53. WOW, Willow, you hit a subject that we all can relate to. We all can recall embarrassing "parent" experiences. Mine always evolved around my curfew time. If I failed to pay attention to the time my Father would come looking for me. How embarrassing it was to be with friends, sharing a burger and have my Dad walk in to remind me to go home! The one and only time I really needed him was one really dark night when I ran out of gas on the way home. I had to walk nearly four miles along a deserted highway. Of course, I was wearing inappropriate shoes and had to take them off to walk. When I got home I found both my parents sound asleep. Needless to say, I woke them up with such a tirade. I would give anything to have that time back. I believe I would react in a much more decent way. After being a parent myself, and realizing how much worry I caused them, I would certainly try harder to be more responsible.

    Loved your post.

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  54. so funny! there probably be a book written about the 'teen drop off' - ooohhh, love the VW bug!

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  55. Oh that IS a good story! That VW convertible is just ADORABLE...I think you should go looking for one...to congratulate yourself for getting three through their schooling!

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  56. Love it, willow!
    They all go through that phase of not wanting to be seen with us, don't they - but they usually turn up if the wallet is opened.

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  57. Weaver, heh-heh, funny how that open wallet attracts!

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  58. That is a funny story!
    We had that red VW..and it was stolen..alas! Loved it...

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  59. I remember being mortified about my Dad picking me up every Saturday morning from ballet class in an old Plymouth.Huge old thing.I always wondered why we never had a new car. Probably the cost of Saturday classes for my brother and myself! So ungrateful looking back on it, but then teenagers aren't known for that particular quality usually!

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  60. I do love a Volvo.....and a Discovery! Great wheels!

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  61. Thanks, Willow. My name is an old family name, shared by my grandmother and great-great grandmother. I have heard many stories about its origin, one of which is Native American. I have never met another Mahala, and have often wondered what it would be like.

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  62. Mahala, here's a post I did a while back on my Mahala. Wouldn't it be crazy if we were distant cousins?

    http://willowmanor.blogspot.com/2008/11/we-are-who-we-were.html

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  63. Hi Willow - I'm finally back. Please check out my rescripted blog or better yet go to my new blog to find out what's changed in my life. It's been a wild experience. www.loveclementines.blogspot.com. I hope you will be a part of my blogging journey again. Blogging on the Clementine's blog everyday! Can't wait to catch up on your blog posts. Kim

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  64. Hey, Kim, I've missed you...popping over right now to check out the new blog...

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  65. love your story - so reminds me of many many of my own - with five [5] kids being a single parent, you can only imagine the stories my little ones endured! anyway, great post, lady! have a wonderful day!

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  66. Thank you, Willow, for directing me to your post on Mahala. It would be such fun to find a cousin, but unfortunately, I don't think we are. The little I know about the name Mahala says that it was most probably a pilgrim name, originating in the British Isles. It was likely biblical in origin, though there is no exact personage or Hebrew word that matches it. It was used in the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries there and in the American south. It may have made is way into Native American use through missionaries, but may also have been the word for woman in some tribes. In the late 1800's and early 1900's it was among the 20 most popular names for women, and then fell out of favor. At present it is not even on the list of the top 1000 names for women. And there actually may be a way to know your genetic link to Native Americans. If you join the National Geographic Genographic Project, they will analyze your DNA, give you a baseline genetic/ethnic/nationality identity. You can then allow them to put your info into a huge database that cross references it and can possibly put you in touch with relatives. It's one of the most fascinating things I have ever done! Sorry for the length of this post but I thought you might find the info interesting!

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  67. Mahala, actually, Family Tree DNA has my sample on file, from a sibling test I had done this year. I need to have them test for the Native American genetic link, as well. Amazing technology.

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  68. well...i AM over the hill.
    and guess what i drive.
    a brand new triple beige VW convertible.

    xx

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  69. Thanks for the fabulous nostalgia. My brother drove a Beetle for a long time. An orange one.

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  70. Willow - I'm SO behind but very glad I saw this post. My first car, of my very own, not shared with anyone, was a 69 VW convertible in mint condition. I sold it when Bo was seven. It was also red with a black top. I always see how people think they have a lot in common with other bloggers and I'm beginning to think the supposed strangeness is actually rather ordinary.

    But these moments do make me think, at least, "Ah. Me, too." For whatever that means.

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  71. I love the VW convertible. The colour alone is magic.

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Inject a few raisins of conversation into the tasteless dough of existence.
― O. Henry (and me)