Riding in an Old Truck

In Sunday Night's Post I talked about working for a friend where I drove his old truck for him for a day and a half.  After I finished the post, I sat at my chair and thought about many memories I had from riding in an old truck.  Many people tell you that they ride motorcycles because it gets them "closer to the road," meaning they can feel the wind in their hair and smell nature and feel the sun on their shoulders.  That is understandable, but I can tell you that you can get many of those same perks driving an old pickup truck.

It has to be an old one, though.  One where you must physically roll down the window - not push a button to make it go down.  Then you must put your elbow out the window.  It helps if you turn the little triangle window so that it brings fresh air inside the cab!  You remember that little window, don't you?

Alright, now we're talking.  The sun beats down on your elbow and you can actually get a nice farmer's tan if you ride like this for any distance.  I always drove the trucks when we were harvesting rice and all the little pieces of rice hull would stick to my sweaty skin on my arms, causing a lot of itching, and the wind blowing through the cab helped to blow it off. 

Of course, in an old truck, the radio may not work and the air conditioning almost assuredly won't work, but that's okay.  In an old truck going at top speed of 45 mph down a gravel road, there is no need to be pretentious.  You can sing.  And sing loudly.  The possibilities on the playlist in your mind are limitless.  It could be John Denver, John Conlee, or John Cougar Mellencamp, or Jon Bon Jovi, for that matter.  You know all the words to their songs and those you don't, you just make them up as you drum your hands on the steering wheel.

In a new pickup truck, you are hermetically sealed and completely out of touch with what's going on around you.  On the other hand, in an old truck with the windows open, you can hear the engine popping and the springs bouncing.  You can smell that smell coming from the radiator letting you know that things are getting a little hot.  Who needs gauges?  You can smell those foul smells from road-kill on the side of the road or that sickening smell when you pass the dump.  They don't have to be all bad smells, though.  When you slow down in the curve where the trees form a canopy over the road, you can breathe in deeply and smell the wild honeysuckle growing on the fence row!

One more thing you have to be careful of in an old truck is when you have to get out in town in the parking lot of the parts house.  Old trucks have a way of collecting a wide assortment of items on the floorboard.  These items tend to fall out when you open the door and must be picked up quickly.  Things like tools, empty Dr. Pepper cans and honey bun wrappers, used white napkins and empty fried chicken boxes.  You have to remember one more thing when driving an old truck.  When you pull out of the parking lot, oftentimes, you'll want to get out to double-check that puddle underneath where your truck was.  Is that an oil puddle or a water puddle?  That's an important question to have answered, so you can top off the correct fluid levels.