Randy, thank you for reading my piece and especially for your words. I appreciate them very much. I will seek out the Updike story. Why don't you write about your Nissan? You'd have one reader, I assure you! I hope you are enjoying your return to UNO. Thanks again for your kind note.
Another fine one, Richard. I sense an excellent collection gathering.
"My brilliant friend" makes me regret even more that financial need forced me to sell (as an antique) my little Nissan truck, which I drove from 1995 through 2021.
John Updike, who also admired E.B. White, has an early story--"Packed Dirt, Churchgoing, A Dying Cat, A Traded Car"--that closes his collection, Pigeon Feathers (1962) on meaning that can exist between us and our cars.
Beautiful, Richard! You’ve expressed how I feel about my little 2007 Pontiac Vibe, which I’m happily and proudly still driving. I bought it used in 2010 and it’s paid for itself several times over. I hate when I feel jealous of finer, bigger, faster, and more well-equipped cars. And I dread the day I have to say goodbye to my “brilliant friend” and hello to a car note!!!!!
Thanks so much, Angie! I think so many people have or have had a car that they feel great affection and gratitude for. Just because they're inanimate objects doesn't mean we can't love them!
A great read, as always. I remember spotting the pale-green Focus on the parking lot on Tuesdays and thinking "Richard's here." That car is you. I really like the way you write about it with humour and much affection. Did Chandler pick up the title Farewell My Lovely title from EB Wright's piece? Or was it the other way around? The Tin Lizzie was amazing. I developed a fascination for American cars of the thirties while watching Noir films and later had my own love affair with a simple, small car that ran forever and ever, a 1978 yellow Dodge Colt. Thank you for your story.
Thanks, Olivier! I don't know if Chandler got his title from White, but it couldn't have been the other way around, since Chandler published the book in 1940 and White's essay was published in 1936. It would be interesting to know. Yes, it's amazing the attachments we develop to inanimate things! I dread the day when I buy a new car, because it won't have the simplicity the Focus has, that's for sure!
Richard, I just love this. It's so true as a life principle: The best are always the simplest. I feel the same way about my little Prius, the same vintage as your Focus, although it looks pretty shabby after this winter with its snow-sleet-rain-mud sequences. But once the storms are past, I'll get her cleaned up again and she'll look like new. Or almost. Thank you for your tribute!
Randy, thank you for reading my piece and especially for your words. I appreciate them very much. I will seek out the Updike story. Why don't you write about your Nissan? You'd have one reader, I assure you! I hope you are enjoying your return to UNO. Thanks again for your kind note.
Another fine one, Richard. I sense an excellent collection gathering.
"My brilliant friend" makes me regret even more that financial need forced me to sell (as an antique) my little Nissan truck, which I drove from 1995 through 2021.
John Updike, who also admired E.B. White, has an early story--"Packed Dirt, Churchgoing, A Dying Cat, A Traded Car"--that closes his collection, Pigeon Feathers (1962) on meaning that can exist between us and our cars.
Thank you for writing.
Beautiful, Richard! You’ve expressed how I feel about my little 2007 Pontiac Vibe, which I’m happily and proudly still driving. I bought it used in 2010 and it’s paid for itself several times over. I hate when I feel jealous of finer, bigger, faster, and more well-equipped cars. And I dread the day I have to say goodbye to my “brilliant friend” and hello to a car note!!!!!
Thanks so much, Angie! I think so many people have or have had a car that they feel great affection and gratitude for. Just because they're inanimate objects doesn't mean we can't love them!
A great read, as always. I remember spotting the pale-green Focus on the parking lot on Tuesdays and thinking "Richard's here." That car is you. I really like the way you write about it with humour and much affection. Did Chandler pick up the title Farewell My Lovely title from EB Wright's piece? Or was it the other way around? The Tin Lizzie was amazing. I developed a fascination for American cars of the thirties while watching Noir films and later had my own love affair with a simple, small car that ran forever and ever, a 1978 yellow Dodge Colt. Thank you for your story.
Thanks, Olivier! I don't know if Chandler got his title from White, but it couldn't have been the other way around, since Chandler published the book in 1940 and White's essay was published in 1936. It would be interesting to know. Yes, it's amazing the attachments we develop to inanimate things! I dread the day when I buy a new car, because it won't have the simplicity the Focus has, that's for sure!
Richard, I just love this. It's so true as a life principle: The best are always the simplest. I feel the same way about my little Prius, the same vintage as your Focus, although it looks pretty shabby after this winter with its snow-sleet-rain-mud sequences. But once the storms are past, I'll get her cleaned up again and she'll look like new. Or almost. Thank you for your tribute!
Thank you, Nancy. You always make my day with your generous comments!