Keep the Car Running

I found this one in the archives: Jean’s husband, before he was her husband, took her for a ride in his brand new car from Fitz’s in Manchester. It was awful cold, 20 below zero. She noticed that the gas gauge was on empty. “Oh dear, I hope we don’t run out of gas, and have to walk in the cold.” He said, gallantly, “If we run out of gas, I’ll walk -- you keep the car running and stay warm.” 

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My old friend Audrey told me this story last night at the Bradford Historical Society -- a lively bunch for sure! We swapped a few Red Sox stories. I’ll call this one: Red Sox Red Sox Everywhere!

Audrey recalled a shop in the North Country run by a a Penobscot basket maker. She loved weaving, loved baskets, and spent quite a good deal of time in the shop looking over the merchandise before choosing a handmade brown ash basket for $4.00 (she still has the basket, of course).

Meanwhile, her husband was in the car with the radio on refusing to miss even one minute of the Red Sox game. As Audrey was checking out, figuring she’d used up her quota of browsing time, she noticed a signed photograph of Ted Williams on the wall, and beside the photo was a cutout in the shape of a foot.

She asked the owner what the foot was all about. “Oh,” he said, “I made Ted’s baseball shoes.” 

* * * 

One fella really got me with this story. How we laughed. And groaned.

He explained that wild turkeys are great ones for eating ticks, which seems like a very good thing, considering our burgeoning tick population. 

“Yuh,” he said, “if you roast one of those wild turkeys, they come out delicious with just a hint of lime.”