J.W. Burleson photo / Boquillas del Carmen, Coah.
PHB
- autoliterate
- Brooklin, Maine, United States
- We own a 1975 GMC Sierra Grande 15 in Maine and a 1986 Chevrolet Custom Deluxe 10 in West Texas. Also a pair of 1997 Volvo 850 wagons. Average age in the fleet is 28 years--we're recycling. I've published 3 novels: THE LAW OF DREAMS (2006), THE O'BRIENS (2012), and CARRY ME (2016). Also 2 short story collections: NIGHT DRIVING(1987) and TRAVELLING LIGHT (2013). More of my literary life is at www.peterbehrens.org I was a Fellow at the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study for 2012-13. I'm an adjunct professor at Colorado College and in the MFA program at Queens University of Charlotte. In 2015-16 I was a Fellow at Harvard University's Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. The Autoliterate office is in Car Talk Plaza in Harvard Square, 2 floors above Dewey Cheatem & Howe. SUBSCRIBE TO THE AUTOLITERATE DAILY EMAIL by hitting the button to the right.
My first pickup truck was an early 70's Hi-Lux short bed. Rusty body, automatic transmission with no reverse. I called it a Toyota No-Lux. It more or less functioned as a motorized utility trailer in many ways. For one, difficult to back up. Being younger at the time, I generally opened the door and my left leg could get a little momentum going to roll in reverse and be clear to put her in "D".
ReplyDeleteOver time I developed a 6th sense for it's turning radius which was very tight, unlike other trucks that came later with turning radiuses of a B-747 in flight. I made u-turns like a polished politician where everyone else would just k-turn.
Those "WTF is this guy doing" moments were all part of a No-Lux lifestyle, unhampered by no reverse.
Greg Phillips
Apalachicola, FL