family – Page 2 – OKIEROVER.COM

This is what my car looked like. I wish I had one today.

The Art of Manliness has hit another home run with a post titled, “How to Be Happy with the Car You Drive“. Its written by guest writer Marcus Brotherton about the seven stages of car ownership men go through in their lives.

The post ends by asking what was your first car and what do you drive today? My first car was the 1965 Pontiac Tempest station wagon. I paid 150$(US) for her in 1980. That was two summer’s worth of saving from odd jobs. I bought it when I was 15 and half in anticipation of a successful driver’s test. We all called it the Millennium Falcon.

Terry and Sherry Bates were with me when the engine blew on the way home from Oklahoma City crossing the South Canadian River bridge on highway 62. I was pretty sad about that as you can imagine.

Today, I am somewhere between
5. Cars for Work and
6. Cars of Arrival

I drive a 2007 Honda Civic on my daily commute, mostly for the gas mileage. It is a totally loveless car. And as all of you are aware I own a 1993 Range Rover which was originally purchased to haul kids around and has since been turned into an adult-sized Tonka toy or hobby for me in lieu of a motorcycle as is seemingly normal for men my age.

I hope you enjoy the post as much as I did. Happy Rovering.

PS The post time is no accident. 20:05 = 19:65 in homage of my first taste of freedom.

Many of you may have seen the news about a recent Tornado outbreak in Oklahoma. We had some tornadoes that’s for sure. We even had one in Norman. Yes, the town that NEVER has tornadoes had a small one on Friday evening. I was driving home when it went through town. I arrived home only minutes after it went through the First Courthouse neighborhood south of my house. 2500 feet is about what we figured the distance at. RovErica and Mrs. OkieRover watched it track past the back of the house. Stupid as it sounds, its what most Okies do.

I think it will be considered and EF1, if even that. We did not get the houses flattened and widespread damage you are accustomed to seeing when our state is portrayed on the news after a twister. Woodward, Oklahoma on the other hand got it bad, again. My adopted mother lost five (5) cousins (it might have been seven I can’t remember) in the 1947 Woodward tornado that killed one hundred and seven (107) people. As of this morning six (6) people have died in this recent storm. Many more are in critical condition in local hospitals.

It was an exciting evening with lots of wall clouds forming, rotation of clouds on the bottom and that eery feeling something was about to happen. Once the power came back on we watched on and off coverage of the weather until late. A second line of very menacing looking storms was scheduled to blow through at 4:00 am. They turned out to be lots of lightning and a little rain. Generally nothing to write home about.

On Sunday it cleared up and we took my mother’s ashes to the Glenwood Cemetery in Perkins, Oklahoma. We made contact with the family that I never knew. They were all so excited to meet us. It was a bit overwhelming. I got to meet a high school friend of her’s and so many 2nd and 3rd cousins that I lost track of who was who.

After the ceremony, if you could call it that, we went back to a cousin of my mother’s to have fellowship and a meal. It was fun to watch the grand kids knock about on the farm. We chatted until it started getting on into evening. My sister-in-law came along and we all had a good time.

There is a Courtwright family reunion coming in June and I was enthusiastically invited several times. The Gates family reunion isn’t until next year. I don’t think it will be that long before I hear from that family again.

Thanks for reading, say a prayer for those affected, keep your head down and your eyes on the sky, and Happy Rovering.

Category: family

Seven Stages of Car Ownership (Post #306) 11/29/2012

Tornado, Danger Close, Family Now Even Closer (Post #289) 4/17/2012