When the weatherman says it's complicated, that means they don't what the hell is going to happen. They were predicting 2"-5" of snow. We got at least 8" of heavy wet snow. I know it's winter in upstate NY and anytime after December 1st watch out! So I cranked up my snowblower this morning and, being the fucking winter warrior that I am, I cleared half of the driveway in no time. Then the damned machine kept veering to the left. I looked at the tire and it wasn't flat but had separated from the rim. Meaning that it was indeed flat but didn't appear flat. There was no air in the tire. I tried a pump. No luck. My friend T. came over and we got the god damn wheel and tire off after a bit of a struggle. Thanks, locktite. Well, it works. So, we bring the tire and wheel over to his immaculate garage. This guy has carpeting in his garage. How many people do you know that have carpeting in their garage? It's not plush carpeting, but still. Anyway, he has this huge ass air compressor and we try several different ways to inflate the tire, but the seal between the rim and tire was screwed up. So, I bring the tire up to my crack Russian mechanic G. who is just up the street. I look up on one of the lifts and see this old car that reminded me of a vintage MG only somewhat larger. G. tells me it is a 1948 Bugatti. This car is a year younger than I am and it doesn't look that bad. It is a convertible and sits up there with pride and a certain presence. G. told me that The Bugatti runs and that an older gentleman wants to drive it again before he dies. I think about that while I look at the car and try to imagine what roads and hills it has been on. Who sat in the seats with the wind blowing their hair and scarves into the air? The back fender has an "NL" sticker on it for the Netherlands.
When I ask G. how much for the snowblower tire repair, he replies nothing. I look him in the eye and say thank you. G. has serviced my Accord and Accra's since 2000 or so. Before that he serviced my late 80's Volvo 240 many times. So we have an economic and neighborly relationship dating back a few years. I have handed over many dollars to this hardworking guy. I have heard about Russian mechanics from the Ukraine. They know how to manufacture parts for autos for which parts are no longer made. It's this way with the 1948 Bugatti. For it to see the road again, he will have to make parts. I'd like to see that car on the road and meet that gentleman owns it. While G. repairs the seal on the tire, two of his mechanics take a break. I stand next to them. One is a Russian who is at least 6+ ft tall and another is a Latin American. They both are seated at a table. The Russian is about as tall seated as the Latin American is standing. They talk cars and the pros and cons. Both hardworking immigrants to the new land of opportunity. They come to work everyday and don't ponder Ponzi, bank bailouts or hedge funds.
In other weather related news, I just got my new Fedco Seed catalogue in the mail. It's always fun to look through it and see what new varieties are on offer. The pen and ink drawings seem from another time and are beautifully done. This year there's Goethe quotes peppering the text and seed descriptions. In view of the recession, the revealed inadequacies of our food sysytem and the fact that many people started gardens for the first time, it is ironic that New England's weather for the summer of 2009 was the worst in 40 years. This was the summer of end blight and the loss of almost all of the tomato crop. That's why those heirlooms or any tomato for that matter were so expensive at the farmer's markets in the Northeast this year.
"...in our discussion of the cotyledon...we found several leaves and apparently several modes carried together around one point. As the various species of pine develop from the seed, they display a rayed circle of unmistakable needles that, unlike other cotyledons, are already well developed. Thus in the earliest infancy of this plant we can already see a hint, as it were, of the power of nature. which is to produce flowering and fruiting in later years." Goethe, from "The Metamorphosis of Plants"
"Seed is the biggest issue around democracy in food. Seed is a common resource, and we have to protect it for future generations...I would call GM a cruelty to seed...I will live to see the end of Monsanto." Vandana Shiva