The little Rover that could - Chapter 1
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Recovery Vehicle
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From: A very cold climate, USA
The little Rover that could - Chapter 1
I drove down the road less travelled this year. Eight months of experiencing beautiful and inclement weather with my Rover. Rain, Hail, Sunshine, Fog, Snow, Sleet, Clouds, nightfall, daybreak as well as thunder, lightning and rainbows.
In hindsight, winter seemed so easy. Summer not so much. And I would have thought it would be the other way around. I went from being able to spin my wheels and do donuts in the parking lot this past winter, testing the limits to traveling down a tree-canopied road this summer where the lake was still and the road was dark from foliage. It didn’t seem like summer, maybe it was due to the late spring thaw and the horrid polar vortex, the lack of solar flares this year or a feeling of anticipation of being with my Rover out on the back roads and now that it’s here something is missing.
I should have brought my compass – something to point me to true north. Instead I found myself at a fork in the road, not knowing which way to turn, feeling lost in the process. So I sat there, contemplating left or right. Paralyzed by which direction to turn I felt myself sinking into the soft sand of the fading washed-out two track and I spun my wheels. No momentum.
Where am I? I thought.
I turned off the radio and could only hear the rev of my engine. I turned the engine off and sat there. It was silent. A tear rolled down my cheek. How did I find myself in this position? Maybe I should just turn around and go back. Maybe I shouldn’t turn around but rather travel backward – in reverse. I always thought that the rear view mirror was clearer than the front windshield. Did I really want to travel backward the entire rough road? At least it would get me back to where I was, where I felt comfortable, on a path that I knew. I turned the radio back on and an old familiar song was playing that brought me peace – Howie Day’s Collide. ‘I’ve found that I’m scared to know that I’m always on your mind’ echoed thru the speakers. ‘I’ve lost my place – I’m close behind’, I sang.
Right or left? Left or right?
‘Left, left, I left my wife and 44 kids, an old grey mare and a peanut stand’ passed thru my mind. It brought back memories of when I was young, slapping at the mosquitoes as my sister and I marched with my grandmother along the banks of pristine river, thru the pine needle path to the local canoe rental/ice cream shop. Life seemed so much easier then – no cares or worries, just content with being.
‘Do you think I did right?’…
I heard the answer and it was clearly ‘No’.
A fish jumped on the lake bringing me out of my hypnotic state and I put the Rover into reverse. I heard the familiar clunk of the driveshaft engaging. I can do this I said to myself. Compass or no compass I wasn’t a quitter and I would see it through. Summer wasn’t meant to be forgotten.
In hindsight, winter seemed so easy. Summer not so much. And I would have thought it would be the other way around. I went from being able to spin my wheels and do donuts in the parking lot this past winter, testing the limits to traveling down a tree-canopied road this summer where the lake was still and the road was dark from foliage. It didn’t seem like summer, maybe it was due to the late spring thaw and the horrid polar vortex, the lack of solar flares this year or a feeling of anticipation of being with my Rover out on the back roads and now that it’s here something is missing.
I should have brought my compass – something to point me to true north. Instead I found myself at a fork in the road, not knowing which way to turn, feeling lost in the process. So I sat there, contemplating left or right. Paralyzed by which direction to turn I felt myself sinking into the soft sand of the fading washed-out two track and I spun my wheels. No momentum.
Where am I? I thought.
I turned off the radio and could only hear the rev of my engine. I turned the engine off and sat there. It was silent. A tear rolled down my cheek. How did I find myself in this position? Maybe I should just turn around and go back. Maybe I shouldn’t turn around but rather travel backward – in reverse. I always thought that the rear view mirror was clearer than the front windshield. Did I really want to travel backward the entire rough road? At least it would get me back to where I was, where I felt comfortable, on a path that I knew. I turned the radio back on and an old familiar song was playing that brought me peace – Howie Day’s Collide. ‘I’ve found that I’m scared to know that I’m always on your mind’ echoed thru the speakers. ‘I’ve lost my place – I’m close behind’, I sang.
Right or left? Left or right?
‘Left, left, I left my wife and 44 kids, an old grey mare and a peanut stand’ passed thru my mind. It brought back memories of when I was young, slapping at the mosquitoes as my sister and I marched with my grandmother along the banks of pristine river, thru the pine needle path to the local canoe rental/ice cream shop. Life seemed so much easier then – no cares or worries, just content with being.
‘Do you think I did right?’…
I heard the answer and it was clearly ‘No’.
A fish jumped on the lake bringing me out of my hypnotic state and I put the Rover into reverse. I heard the familiar clunk of the driveshaft engaging. I can do this I said to myself. Compass or no compass I wasn’t a quitter and I would see it through. Summer wasn’t meant to be forgotten.
Last edited by landlover_1; Jul 5, 2014 at 06:01 PM.
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