I have to say it - I just don’t get it.
This is the 11th Graffiti Days I’ve attended. It’s still as awesome as ever. I love the cars. I love the little extras that people do to them - the beautiful paint jobs, the detailing, the little Betty Boop dashboard ornaments, the fuzzy dice... And I love the people who are drawn to these wonderful old cars.
It’s a fun weekend and just about everyone is in a great mood. Even if the rain clouds feel like they’re hovering six inches away from your head. There’s something about those rock ‘n roll tunes from the 1950s.
My hometown, Windsor, was #1 Cartown, Canada when I was growing up. Home of the Chrysler assembly plant, a Ford plant and I think there was some GM there at one time, too.
I remember the company brought it some of its old cars for a show. They were in prime mint condition. They lined them up in the assembly plant and let the public have a look.
What I don’t get is... the smoke show. I don’t get why it’s so darn popular. People sit in those seats for a couple of hours and breathe in vapourized rubber and exhaust. And they’re ridiculously happy!
I’ve got nothing against people being happy. But I ended up leaving Windsor because of that smoke. Between Windsor and Detroit, there was just way too much pollution from the cars, trucks and factories. I needed somewhere where I could breath.
Isn’t that one of the best things about where we live? If I wanted to suck in exhaust and rubber all day, I could sit on a bus bench in downtown Kamloops.
Every time I take pictures at the smoke show, I go home smelling absolutely disgusting. The clothes are easy to to clean, but my hair, my skin takes a bit more scrubbing.
And yet, perfectly sane people who I know, really get off on that smoke show. I just don’t get it. And I’m thinking that I probably never will.
But, we all have our odd little past times and hobbies.
Wendy Coomber is editor of the Ashcroft-Cache Creek Journal.