Sunday, August 21, 2016

Not Forgotten Friday: '49 Ford Pick-up Truck


Really stretching the art muscles lately! First landscapes and now vehicles. But this truck is special to me and when I saw that it was on the calendar in the garage, I just had to channel my inner "Lapin" and sketch it.


Art and Oatmeal with Peaches: during breakfast I sketched in the green truck. While painting it with watercolors, I added the primer red fender because that is what the '49 that my ex and I bought in California back in 1970 looked like. 


Big trip down memory lane. While inking and painting the picture, I thought of the adventures we had in this vehicle. We drove it the length and breadth of the Golden State: sleeping in the truck bed on the beach in Capistrano, using the large water container that we hauled with us to dowse a fire in Yosemite (inebriated campers trying to build a camp fire); putting my feet up on the dashboard so that they wouldn't get burnt while I watched the Mojave Dessert pass by through a hole in the hot metal floor of the truck. Yes, I've been through the dessert in a truck with no AC. Ahhh, those were the days.


Love the iconic grill! We also drove the truck from California to Connecticut in 4 and 1/2 days. Once when it was my turn to drive, I got pulled over by a State Trooper. "If you can't make this thing go any faster, you are going to have to get it off of the highway!" I got a warning, but not a ticket, for going too slow. Not my fault, no speedometer, and at that moment, no traffic to judge how fast, or slow, I was going.


While the ex was in Viet Nam, I drove the truck everyday to work. With mechanical steering, (there was no power anything - not steering, not windows, etc.) parallel parking was a bitch. There was, however, a built-in metal tool box behind the seat that could easily be overlooked. That is where I kept a bottle of Boone's Farm Apple Wine for when I picked up my friends over at the college. My friend's brother was a city cop and he laughed hysterically to see me driving around in that old green "tank" and decided to give me a handle. "Mother Trucker" signing off.





No comments:

Post a Comment