In 1953 my dad took his second teaching job in a new town, about three times the size of the school district where he was previously employed. To celebrate this, he went out and bought his first ever new car, a 1953 Chevy Bel Air.
The car was his biggest investment ever, to that point in his life. He had served 2 years in the Navy during WWII after he graduated from high school, gone to college on the GI bill, received his 4 year bachelor's degree (first and only member of his family to do so) and had launched his teaching career in 1950. He was still single, but at the teacher orientation in the Fall of '53, he caught the eye of a new grade school teacher as the new teachers were introduced. The rest, as they say, is history.
This 1953 Shelby Airflow frame is from the last year of the Shelby Co. produced Shelbys. I picked it up on the 'bay in 2019 and had planned to use it last summer, before my mind's eye caught the Spectra-flame idea of RaTs GaSs, that is. So it has been hanging in the BACK40 since, gathering dust and ideas.
Today I am travelling to my hometown to visit my mom, who has been single since my dad's passing for 13 yrs now. She is doing very well, but the month of May is always a significant time for her with Mother's Day and my dad's birthday both landing in this month. We will spend the day reminiscing, planting some flowers, and probably digging out the photo albums as we look fondly on the past, and press on confidently into the future.
The farm boy showing off his new car on a Friday night drive back home to the family farm.
RaT oN~!
The car was his biggest investment ever, to that point in his life. He had served 2 years in the Navy during WWII after he graduated from high school, gone to college on the GI bill, received his 4 year bachelor's degree (first and only member of his family to do so) and had launched his teaching career in 1950. He was still single, but at the teacher orientation in the Fall of '53, he caught the eye of a new grade school teacher as the new teachers were introduced. The rest, as they say, is history.
This 1953 Shelby Airflow frame is from the last year of the Shelby Co. produced Shelbys. I picked it up on the 'bay in 2019 and had planned to use it last summer, before my mind's eye caught the Spectra-flame idea of RaTs GaSs, that is. So it has been hanging in the BACK40 since, gathering dust and ideas.
Today I am travelling to my hometown to visit my mom, who has been single since my dad's passing for 13 yrs now. She is doing very well, but the month of May is always a significant time for her with Mother's Day and my dad's birthday both landing in this month. We will spend the day reminiscing, planting some flowers, and probably digging out the photo albums as we look fondly on the past, and press on confidently into the future.
The farm boy showing off his new car on a Friday night drive back home to the family farm.
RaT oN~!
