"Cool" Cars

December 8, 2024
 
Reflections from the Heart of Allan Redenius
I've been thinking about the cars I've had over my lifetime.  When I was in high school, the kind of car you drove, spoke to who you were.  As for me, I really didn't have a car in high school, just the occasional use of the family vehicle, a 1954 green Chevrolet.  In the language of the 1960’s, it was not a “cool” car.
 
Not until I was ready to leave for college, did I purchase my first vehicle, a 1956 Oldsmobile.  Again, not a “cool” car.  But for $75, I wasn't looking for anything flashy, just a mode of transportation to give me a little independence.  This monster of a car was built like a Sherman tank, took one full acre to make a U-turn, and when I stopped at the gas station, I always said, “Fill up the oil and check the gas.”  Of course, being a clunker of a car had its advantages.  When parallel parking, if someone parked too close in front and behind, just put the transmission in low and push the guy in front of you out of the way.  Sure as the world, you can't do that today with plastic bumpers.   
 
Once I was engaged to Armona, that beater of a car that served me so well was traded in for a 1970 Chevelle.  Suddenly, I had a vehicle that could accelerate from zero to 60, not in 60 seconds, but in six seconds.  Now, this was a “cool” car.  Then along came children and I had to succumb to being more practical in life.  So, like all the soccer moms of today who drive a minivan, I drove a station wagon.  By the way, if you have that old white station wagon and are wondering why the paint is all sticky around the windows, it’s because I sprayed mosquito repellent on the paint around the windows at the drive-in movie theater.  I don't remember if my ingenuity kept the mosquitoes out, but I do remember the movie, Star Wars.  Of course, there were other impractical cars along the way, a couple of convertibles, a Trans Am with a six speed on the floor and a Corvette engine.
 
What have I learned about cars along the way?  They are a means to get you where you need to go.  The one thing they won't do for you is drive you to heaven.
 
Looking out the window as life goes by.

Pastor Allan
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