The Camino

I am a HUGE fan of cars. HUGE! I love the old boats, the gangster cars. At one time I had 32 cars! Everything from Corvettes to Corvairs. Thats a story all in itself.

So whenever I see an old car I keep an eye on it. Usually I pass by it several times and I always look. I look because I admire it. Admire the dashboard, the lights, the quirky little things about it.

There was this old El Camino I kept an eye on. I have always liked the car/truck but never drove one or let alone owned one. It was in tip top shape too. It had that old ugly brown paint on it, no rust that I could see from the road and they had taken good care of it. I kept waiting for the day when a for sale sign would be in the window.

I dont think many people my age appreciate the older cars, especially women and I figured it was an elderly man who owned it. The car was parked at an older home that had these great flowering bushes in the yard. The kind my grandmother use to have. I guess that is why I imagined this elderly couple that had been married since dirt was invented. I kept thinking this Camino was his memories of their younger days together and he just couldnt let go of it.

At the beginning of the year I saw an awful wreck...an El Camino. I couldnt make out the color of the car because it was so dark. It was very close to the home of my Camino I admired. It was obvious from the wreck someone was either badly injured or had not survived.

Since then I have looked and the El Camino has not been there. I drove by yesterday hoping that just maybe he had been taking it out for a spin the other times I had been by and it would be there. It wasnt and I thought maybe he wasnt there anymore either. My heart just sank.

Sometimes I wonder if my imagination just runs wild. He may have put a for sale sign on it and another admirer snatched it up. I do hope this family that I dont even know is ok. I will keep looking at their home everytime I pass by.

Funny how the love for a car and the human spirit can bring so much emotion to your life.