A beginning towards returning to some form of normalcy

[moparedtn]

Tonight was the local Cruise-In in town that kicks off the annual Heritage Days.
It's a fairly big deal locally and all the cars parade into town with a police escort
and all that jazz.
Something like 150 cars participated.... including Fred!

After my first week of stumbling and bumbling through my new work gig (which
so far, knock wood, has gone pretty well I believe), my wife thought it important
that we take part in the festivities just like we had in recent years past.
Despite my continued mental state of "stay locked down until the paychecks flow", I relented and shined Fred up - and off we went:

That's my better half awaiting the parade to start. I usually stay out from the pack and
await the tail end of the parade - it's easier on my clutch knee from back there and we don't
do the entire parade loop, instead opting to park first time through downtown.

Primo parking spot, you know.

The pics are crappy, sorry - but ol' Fred sure looked pretty and he seemed real happy
just to be out again like old times....like everything had returned to OK status.
Yeah, Delta's outer rings were starting to reach us and we got sprinkled on a couple
times (enough for some of those other prima donnas to run for home), but we didn't
care - we walked the whole town, ate in a local diner and visited with a couple folks
just like normal people.

Honestly? It was kind of surreal for me - but you'd have to had walked a mile in my shoes
to truly understand the impact of what happened.
My wife summed it up pretty succinctly on the way home (where I got to actually try
out those cute, dinky little b-body wipers a couple times (and no, they don't "park" on
their own correctly, but that's ok):
"That was a really nice evening, huh?"
Yes ma'am, it surely was.

I'd almost forgotten what those were like....

Oh, and if you can see FB videos, Fred got a little air time on a local media dude's coverage:

We/Fred appear in the parade around the 17:20 mark.
You can even hear him bark a time or two.

Yep, it's a beginning - and again, where in the hell would we be now if not for you folks
here at FBBO? I am truly humbled and blessed and it's you guys' doing!

 

[Sahara]

Very well stated. Thanks for that, you made my day.

 

[Ironbuilt]

All Hail Fred!!!

Congrats Ed!!

 

[Jerry Hall]

Ed, where are the Mopars? I saw Fred, a old 50's Dodge truck, and a Chrysler in the whole video.

 

[JackR]

That’s great, good for you. Phoenix has no car anything for a while. But it’s been stupid hot for 4 months. Weather better hope something kicks in soon.

 

[GetX'd]

Total congrats on the new job Ed! Glad to see you guys getting out and enjoying life.

 

[Kern Dog]

Hey, I didn't know that you got a job. Good for you, Sir!

 

[moparedtn]

Ed, where are the Mopars? I saw Fred, a old 50's Dodge truck, and a Chrysler in the whole video.

Sheesh, we gotta get you to an optometrist now??
Yes, several of the local rides were missing (fearing weather, I suppose) but there was a black 'Cuda with a giant
blower and a gorgeous '67 Plymouth Fury "survivor" that a friend owns (originally bought by his dad!) among others.

A couple of non-Mopar personal favorites of mine (ok, there are many personal favorites around here) was the 427
Fairlane, the Studebaker Hawk and the "lead sled" directly in front of us in the parade, which is owned by well-known
local Otis Eldridge (he of Memory Lane fame) - a car he built himself 30 years ago and which has a 440+6 under
the hood but get this...it's disguised as a 426 hemi!
He owns many hemi cars (including a lot of stuff from Petty Enterprises from back when they ran them in NASCAR),
but when he built that car, his friends were disgusted he didn't use one of the engines in it - so he rigged it up
to look like one at first glance just to get their goats.
You open the hood and you "see" a 426 complete with six pack - but it isn't.

There's quite the cross-section of really cool old rides around these parts, many of them meticulously done
and not the typical - despite the contingent of the usual boring Chevy pickups like the one behind us in
the parade (crate motor and no exhaust - yawn!) - and not one snob amongst the owners.
VERY relaxed atmosphere at these events and nobody worries about crime; we all park and head off to wander.

 

[moparedtn]

Very well stated. Thanks for that, you made my day.

Thanks.
Makes the effort worth it when somebody says something like that, you know?

All Hail Fred!!!
Congrats Ed!!

Thanks, my friend. It's funny - I can almost sense Fred sitting there in the garage, impatiently putting up with
my feeble attempts at detailing him before going out, saying "all right already, let's GO!"

That’s great, good for you. Phoenix has no car anything for a while. But it’s been stupid hot for 4 months. Weather better hope something kicks in soon.

Thanks! I'm praying a whole lot of things kick in after the election...

Total congrats on the new job Ed! Glad to see you guys getting out and enjoying life.

Hey, I didn't know that you got a job. Good for you, Sir!

Thanks, guys. Yep, I think I wrote about it earlier this week on the thread, but I got a gig doing what I actually
do and it's been the usual learning curve of a new company to me - along with honestly, getting back in the swing
of things after what, like 7 months?

With multiple locations, the company has a Zoom meeting on Friday mornings for us "sales" types, the first
of which I "attended" this morning at 8am. The new boss had prepped me for what to expect and said the usual
"keep your head down and observe" thing, but when the head honcho of it all called on me first thing and introduced
me and asked me to say a bit about myself - well, they got a condensed version of Ed.
I got done and he thanked me, then turned to the next in line (a lady) and says "ok Cindy, try to follow THAT"...
*snicker*
She smiles and shakes her head and says "I can't follow that..." and at first, I thought I'd over-stepped....
but nope, everyone seemed to enjoy it. I imagine they appreciated the break from the usual dry, stale sales
number jargon.

After it was done, my boss sends me a text with nothing but (3) thumbs up "smilies"...
I replied "ain't nothin' but a house party, brother".
No, it's not my first rodeo for sure....and no, I'm not your usual corporate zombie.

 

[Richard Cranium]

They won't let us get back to normal here in Maskachusetts.

 

[ruffcut]

God bless brother!!

 

[71dodgechargerrt]

Great to hear you are back in the work saddle again Ed. Must have been nice to get out for a cruise with the wife and Fred again. Not much allowed around hear yet for cruising and get togethers. Wish you nothing but the best.

 

[Brandy]

Very nice parade Ed. Your car looked great and sounded tough. We all need to get a slice of normal soon.

 

[Jerry Hall]

Sheesh, we gotta get you to an optometrist now??
Yes, several of the local rides were missing (fearing weather, I suppose) but there was a black 'Cuda with a giant
blower and a gorgeous '67 Plymouth Fury "survivor" that a friend owns (originally bought by his dad!) among others.

A couple of non-Mopar personal favorites of mine (ok, there are many personal favorites around here) was the 427
Fairlane, the Studebaker Hawk and the "lead sled" directly in front of us in the parade, which is owned by well-known
local Otis Eldridge (he of Memory Lane fame) - a car he built himself 30 years ago and which has a 440+6 under
the hood but get this...it's disguised as a 426 hemi!
He owns many hemi cars (including a lot of stuff from Petty Enterprises from back when they ran them in NASCAR),
but when he built that car, his friends were disgusted he didn't use one of the engines in it - so he rigged it up
to look like one at first glance just to get their goats.
You open the hood and you "see" a 426 complete with six pack - but it isn't.

There's quite the cross-section of really cool old rides around these parts, many of them meticulously done
and not the typical - despite the contingent of the usual boring Chevy pickups like the one behind us in
the parade (crate motor and no exhaust - yawn!) - and not one snob amongst the owners.
VERY relaxed atmosphere at these events and nobody worries about crime; we all park and head off to wander.

And to think I watched the whole thing twice. My x-ray vision wasn't up to par on the Studebaker, but from a cellphone I did miss some things. Thanks for the narration, it brings things in focus.

 

[moparedtn]

And to think I watched the whole thing twice. My x-ray vision wasn't up to par on the Studebaker, but from a cellphone I did miss some things. Thanks for the narration, it brings things in focus.

Oh man, I almost forgot one of the sweetest local cars - and it's one you wouldn't necessarily suspect me of
liking so much:

That '68 300 is supposedly an all-original car, short of the slamming nonsense of course.
She's gorgeous inside and out, that's for sure.

Oh, here's a better pic of Fred from the same photographer:

Sheldon (the photographer) runs a large local Christian charity, including thrift store, that goes way out
in the hollers and ridges helping people all the time. He's really an amazing man - not a bad photographer,
either.
Here's the link to all of his pics of the festivities:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=OfOneAccord&set=a.10221649895950748

 

[oldbee]

Glad things are "looking up" Ed.

 

[moparedtn]

They won't let us get back to normal here in Maskachusetts.

The irony of the significance of that neck of the woods in this nations' founding vs. what it has become politically today
blows me away, sir...

God bless brother!!

Great to hear you are back in the work saddle again Ed. Must have been nice to get out for a cruise with the wife and Fred again. Not much allowed around hear yet for cruising and get togethers. Wish you nothing but the best.

Very nice parade Ed. Your car looked great and sounded tough. We all need to get a slice of normal soon.

Thank y'all so much! It didn't really sink in until later last night (since I was all in the moment at the time), but that
was probably the first time since the Cruise for Cancer some months back (where I stupidly got in front of a news camera
for an interview, remember?) that I had really just let go of everything and just.....went.

That's a long time to keep "puckered", if you know what I mean.

 

[moparedtn]

Glad things are "looking up" Ed.

my friend.
Guarded optimism here...I'll be gun shy for quite a while, I imagine.

 

[multimopes]

Welcome back Ed. Very glad to hear things are finally getting better and back to a sort of normal. God Bless!

 

[66383]

Fred is lookin' GOOD!