Ahh, the sounds of spring! Have you heard them? The birds are singing and I hear my wind chimes. I’ve even heard a few tractors rumbling into the field for the beginnings of the growing season. Spring is probably my favorite. Not allergy wise, definitely. I suffer greatly for my favorite season, just like many of you do. But after a long and cold winter though, it is really refreshing to hear the sounds of life starting up around me.
I have another favorite sound of spring though. Recently, while I doing some spring cleaning, my son and husband were in the garage and I heard the distinct sounds of the rumbling 289 engine in our “warm weather car”. My husband still has his first car, a 1967 Mustang Coupe, in our garage and it’s my favorite car in the world. It has belonged in his family for almost 30 years and Craig and his Dad worked together on it. He drove it throughout high school in the Southern California town that he grew up in. It still has the original California plate in the front. It was Ford’s springtime yellow back then.
In 2001, Craig’s dad had it painted silver blue with white racing stripes and shipped it across the country to NC where Craig was stationed in the Coast Guard. In April of 2002, the sweet sound of that car changed my life when I heard it pull into the parking lot of Muddy’s Coffee Shop in Elizabeth City. That distinct mustang sound got my attention for sure. It was so pretty and the owner so handsome that I just had to talk to him. That car is pretty special, you see. Craig still tells people he picked his wife up with a car.
The rest is history, as they say. But the sound of that engine still gets my attention. It doesn’t have heat or even a radio, so it’s usually just a warm weather treat. We ride and listen to the ponies run. It doesn’t have air conditioning, so I sport the “windblown” look whenever I ride in it. It doesn’t have a key fob with automatic locks. It doesn’t even have power breaks, so it literally takes all that is in me to stop that thing. I don’t drive it much for that reason.
But what it does have is a special place in my heart and in the heart of my family. My son absolutely adores “Daddy vroom car”. We were thrilled that his child seat fits in the back. In 1967, child safety seats weren’t exactly what they are now. It’s like a mini vacation when we pile into the car for an ice cream treat, a Sunday drive or especially a cup of coffee.
So now that spring is almost upon us and you are enjoying your favorite sounds of the season, listen for a distinct vroom. And be sure to wave when you see us go by!
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