Thank you!

As I sit down to write this, I am overwhelmed by the emotions of the week. Some happy, some sad and some that were so not expected but I am so very grateful to have had the experiences. I hope that each of you will take the time to count your blessings and say thank you for all of the good things in your life. So often we get in a hurry and life just sweeps us up in its fast pace that we don’t take the time to really reflect on all that we have. In a world that often encourages a relentless pursuit of more, it’s important to take a moment to reflect on and appreciate the abundance already present in our lives. Being thankful for what we have—be it our relationships, health, our hotrods, or simple daily comforts—can foster a deeper sense of contentment. By taking time to enjoy these aspects, we cultivate gratitude and mindfulness, allowing us to experience life more fully. Embracing the present moment and acknowledging our blessings can transform our perspective, leading to a more fulfilling and satisfying existence.

As you go through your Thanksgiving week and dive into the Christmas shopping season, let’s take a moment to remember to be kind. Everyone is going through something that no one else knows about and we can all use a smile or a kind word when we are stressed. To each of my followers and supporters, thank you for being here for this venture. I appreciate each and every one of you. Have a blessed Thanksgiving and bless you.

“E” does not mean enough!

I heard a new to me saying today and it sort of hit home. E does not mean enough. We had a client run out of gas today and my co-worker said this. I’ve heard a lot of things but that was a new one on me. I sat and reflected on that a bit. Often, we think that we have enough to do what we need to do. That can go for many things in life. I guess the most obvious one is your fuel tank. E does not mean you have enough, it means you better get somewhere soon to refuel, or you are going to be walking. I myself, find that as the winter months are approaching, the time to recharge and refuel myself is getting near as well. Just like our cars and trucks we each need to be refueled every so often. How often depends on the individual. We are all a little bit different and require different things to recharge us. Besides the obvious food, I’m talking about the fuel we use to keep us motivated and driven to keep going. What fuels your spirit? Your drive? Your desire to get things done? Is it intrinsic or extrinsic?

Running on empty can feel like the weight of the world is pressing down, yet there is an undeniable drive that pushes many to continue moving forward. For some, it is the pursuit of personal goals, the desire to achieve something meaningful that fuels their determination. Others find motivation in the support of friends, family, or a community that believes in them, providing a reminder of what is at stake. The simple act of drawing in a deep breath and setting one foot in front of the other can ignite a spark, turning fatigue into resilience. In those moments of weariness, the thought of growth and the potential for change can serve as a powerful catalyst to keep going, despite feeling depleted.?

A person running on empty and a car running on empty share striking parallels in their performance and potential consequences. Both begin to show signs of strain as they reach depletion.

When a car is low on fuel, it may sputter and lose power, struggling to maintain speed and function effectively. Similarly, a person who is exhausted or mentally depleted finds it difficult to concentrate and may become increasingly irritable and fatigued. Just as a car's energy source directly impacts its ability to navigate the road, a person's physical and mental reserves dictate their capacity to meet daily challenges.

The mechanics of both scenarios are telling. A car running on empty risks breaking down, leading to extended periods of inactivity and potential damage to internal components. Likewise, a person operating on empty is prone to burnout or health issues, pushing their limits until a significant setback occurs.

Additionally, fueling up—whether it's at a gas station or through self-care and rest—is essential for restoring functionality. Without timely refueling, both the car and the individual may find themselves stranded, highlighting the crucial need for maintenance and balance in both lives and machines. Ultimately, neglecting to address low energy levels can lead to dire consequences, whether on the road or in life.

Here’s to hoping that you are not running on empty and if you are that you take the time to recharge and reset yourself. Your body will thank you as will your loved ones and your friends. Be kind to yourself. Especially this time of year. It can be very stressful for everyone. Just be kind….

Fall is definitely here

The leaves have turned the most beautiful shades of yellows, golds. and reds. There is almost a chill in the air. At least, they keep saying that it is coming. The hotrods are covered up in the garage. The time of year when people’s thought turn toward the holidays. First the excitement of Halloween. All the little ghosts and goblins running around. The day after Halloween when the local radio station starts with the Christmas music. Some love it, and some hate hearing it this soon. Especially since the weather has not really cooled off yet. But it will. It won’t be long until there is a chill in the air. The turkeys will go on sale at the Walmart. Plans are being made. Now is the time to make plans for the holidays. Make your Christmas list. If you have been good maybe Santa will bring you something from Summitt or Jeg’s. Maybe, if you have been really good, you might even get to pick out exactly what you want in the form of a gift card that you can use to redo the hotrod.

Along with the holidays comes a slower time of year when most car enthusiasts start to work on all of the things that they wanted to do last summer but put off till the slow season. Time to tear down that motor. It needs a new set of bearings and maybe a little bit more compression. Might need to upgrade the heads too. Oh well, so much to do and so little money to do it with, a just going to have to do the best you can do with what you have. After all, the kids do need to have some things under the tree as well.

What have you got planned for your ride this winter? Is it going to sit covered up and waiting for the spring because you have it all complete? Or is it like mine, a never-ending project. Always something to work on. Always something that you want to change. My project for the winter involves a couple of things. One, I would love to get this photography site up and running. My goal is to have this site as a resource for people to come to, not only for beautiful rides but as a resource for car show information. I, for one, can never find information about car shows locally when I want or need to. I would like for anyone who has any knowledge of when and where there are going to be shows to please reach out and contact me via email or phone. Call or text. Either one works for me. Help me to have a central resource for car show events in and around the Winchester area. Thanks and until next time, watch out for deers! Tis the season…

The Digital Age!

I grew up in the eighties. The days before the internet and cell phones. The proverbial good ole days. And before you ask, yes, I still think that they were. We knew how to get out and do things. What we didn’t know, we figured out. There was no you tube to watch. No Googling your problem to find a solution. We knew how to talk to people and to make friends. We knew how to handle ourselves. Times were different. Times were simpler. Do I think that the progress that has been made is bad? No, not entirely. Some of the progress has been great. Cell phones are a lifesaver in many situations and the internet is purely amazing. Whoever thought that there could be so much information available to the average person! Wow! Just Wow! I love the convenience of things now days, but life sometimes goes to fast. That is one of the reasons that I love photography. I can take a moment in time and freeze it. A speck of time frozen forever.

Digital photography has come a long way in a relatively short time. My first camera was only 6 megapixels, The camera I shoot with now has over 20. The quality of the images has improved dramatically. The convenience is nothing short of amazing. Everyone has a phone now and the cameras on the phones are light years beyond what was available in the first digital cameras. Nothing short of impressive to me. If I were to guess, and that is exactly what I’m doing. I’d say that the phone have really opened up photography to the masses. Like I said, everyone has a phone, and everyone takes pictures now and that has resulted in a lot of good and not so good photographs.

My goal in this adventure that I am undertaking is to take what would normally just be another image on your phone and bring it to life. I want people to look at my work and be able to feel like they are right there, to get excited and to be proud. One of the biggest expenses that most people I know is a house followed very closely by their cars and trucks. In fact, the majority of the people that I know have lived in the same place for several years, but they change vehicles as often as most normal people change their underwear. Well, hopefully not quite that often but we all know that one friend who is always in something different every time you see him (or her). We are just car people. We can’t help it but we love all things automotive. Some people may call us obsessed but to us it’s just plain old fun! Nothing better than the thrill of the drive. Will she run? Will she handle? What’s your best time in a 1/4? An 1/8? So many questions to answer. So many changes to make. So many options. So many decisions to be made. Stock? modified? New wheels? Chrome? Aluminum? Painted? If so, what color? How wide you want your tires? Will they fit under it? Do I need to tub the rearend? Well, you get the idea. There are as many variations as there are cars so If you are like me and you love your cars, be they new or old, classic or stock, sitting in the driveway or sitting on your mind for hours then drop me a line. Tell me what you drive. Tell me why you drive it and why it’s special to you. Maybe, just maybe, we are on the same page. Till next time, remember Chrome may not get you home but you’ll dang sure look good wherever you are. K

Lugnuts and Lenses

It all began with a little girl and her daddy. They were riding down the road, talking about regular stuff when all of a sudden, out of no where, comes this big red truck flying around them on the way home. The daddy looks over at his little girl and says “hold on”! As a child, you believe your daddy is the best. Well, mine was. He dropped that truck into fourth gear and put that accelerator to the floor. Off we went! That old 427 roared to life. Down the highway we went. He caught that red truck and around him we went. We left that red truck in the dust. That is what started my love affair with speed!

Fast forward a few years. My oldest sister got into photography. Back in those days we had film cameras and we had to wait, sometimes days at a time to see if we had captured the shot we wanted. I fell in love again. This time it was with the capture of a moment in time. The ability to focus on a subject and to highlight what I wanted how I wanted. Oh man did the world look different through that lens! I started out with the point and shoot that my mom had. I had literally thousands of photographs of everything that you can possibly imagine. Everything on the farm. The first purchase that I ever made with my very first paycheck was a Pentax K1000 film camera. Very basic and very simple but oh so fun. I still have it to this day. One day, film will make a comeback…..

Meanwhile I pursued my other passion. I spent the better part of my high school career in vocational school taking auto mechanics with Henry Rice. Two full years at 3 hours a day and I loved every minute of it. The roar of the engines, the smell of the oil and the grease and yes! The smell of the gas fumes! The absolute best time I can recall of high school. If you couldn’t turn a wrench that automatically ruled you out of the dating pool. The bad boys with the bad cars were what turned my head. Enough about that, you get the point.

The years went by, and life started to get away from me. I got busy and shot less. life sped up. I layed my Pentax down. I never forgot the love I had for shooting, but I was just too busy, and film had gotten so expensive, and it was starting to get hard to find. I have never been very computer savvy but one day a girl I worked with was showing off some of her photos. I asked her about them, and she said that she had recently gotten a brand-new digital camera. Digital Camera? What in the world was that? I was intrigued and very curious. She told me that it was 6 whole megapixels. Mega what? For crying out loud, what was that? The more she talked, the more intrigued I became. This sounded good and a whole lot less expensive on the finished end of things. No more film to develop and no more waiting to see if you got the perfect shot. I was in! The photographer in me was back and ready to shoot. Next time, Hawaii and wow that is some great shooting.