Dowager Queen

It is a common belief that 1 human year is equal to 7 dog years. That is not very accurate, since dogs reach adulthood within the first couple of years. The formula actually is 10.5 dog years per human year for the first 2 years, then 4 dog years per human year for each year after.

I wonder if automobiles age the same way?? If so the Queen Mary, my good ol' 1988 Lincoln Town Car would be around 81. That sounds a little too old, actually. She has a lot of life left in her but she is frayed around the edges, her beauty worn with time. You can still see the elegant, formal lines, the restrained power, like a muscled bicep under a silk sleeve. Being a Signature Series, she was almost top of the line in 1988, the epitome of luxury. Only the limited production Cartier with special paint and trim was costlier. She was well equipped as well, lacking some of the electronic doo-dads but having all the luxury none-the-less. I can imagine her as a debutante, I bet she was spectacular, the belle of the showroom.

I looked at her in a parking lot last nite, dwarfing the plastic pretenders of today. Parked deliberately next to a hybrid Toyota Prius, she did look like the Queen Mary next to a Jon Boat. And the 80's models were actually downsized from the USS Enterprise Class '70's models!

I am reminded of the wonderful ee cummings poem:

she being Brand

-new;and you
know consequently a
little stiff i was
careful of her and(having

thoroughly oiled the universal
joint tested my gas felt of
her radiator made sure her springs were O.

K.)i went right to it flooded-the-carburetor cranked her

up,slipped the
clutch(and then somehow got into reverse she
kicked what
the hell)next
minute i was back in neutral tried and

again slo-wly;bare,ly nudg. ing(my

lev-er Right-
oh and her gears being in
A 1 shape passed
from low through
second-in-to-high like
greasedlightning)just as we turned the corner of Divinity

avenue i touched the accelerator and give

her the juice,good

(it

was the first ride and believe i we was
happy to see how nice she acted right up to
the last minute coming back down by the Public
Gardens i slammed on

the
internalexpanding
&
externalcontracting
brakes Bothatonce and

brought allofher tremB
-ling
to a:dead.

stand-
;Still)

Going to take a ride now, seeyooooooooooooulaterrrrrrrrrrrrrr.................