Photo courtesy of Bill Stokes
By Bill Stokes
Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports the keeper’s delight with a belated birthday present from Phyllis’s son Kevin in the form of a 3-hour tour on central Wisconsin’s beautiful back roads in a Model-T Ford that was five years older than the keeper, making it close to 100.
That the Model-T and the keeper are still on the road in any form is nothing short of miraculous. And the fact that they are doing it with friends and family on a beautiful sunny day within the precious expanse of Wisconsin wildland close enough to grab and embrace, that is a lesson in appreciating how automobile travel was once a rich personal experience of pleasurably melding with your route and with less emphasis on “getting there!”
Accompanied by Phyllis and the keeper’s son Mike, the ride began at Kevin’s in-laws–Brendan and Karen’s rural Wisconsin Rapids home where countless Model-Ts go to enjoy a Model-T heaven with “Lord” Brendan in charge.
Under Kevin’s expert Model-T driving the keeper recalled one of his many Model-T memories–his first motor powered wheels discovered behind a neighbor’s machine shed and towed home in the middle of the winter by the keeper’s dad driving horses hooked to the manure sled. The Model-T memories came with every bounce of the open-air ride to Necedah for a great “Polish” lunch and then it meandered along the Wisconsin River and more gravel backroads to end finally where it started in Brendan and Karen’s driveway where the parked Model-T branded their very new artistic looking concrete driveway by dripping oil on it.
The keeper thanks all concerned, especially Kevin, for a great birthday present. And he takes full responsibility for the first oil spot on the new driveway. He is not proud of it but it somehow defines his life, especially with Model-Ts and an oil spot is something to be remembered by.
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