Brilliant!

Back in the day, this was racing!

And also, there was some pretty fine filming, editing and storytelling back in that day too.  Go here for the BBC's story of the 1958 running of the Coupe des Alpes.  Top Gear owes its chops to films like this!

I wanna ride that route on my Italian bicycle someday!

That French Car

The Citroen DS is pretty well known in car circles as being one of the most amazing cars to have ever been produced.  Its safety features were far ahead of its time, its comfort was and still is unparalleled, and its road manners are sublime even by today's standards.

When it was first unveiled in the 1950's, it was widely panned both by both critics and the car-buying public .  People just didn't know what to make of it.  Attitudes and perceptions changed quickly however, and the car very quickly became one of the best selling automobiles in history.

Just as the DS prognosticated future trends, an unfamiliar word gracing our own vocabulary today suggests the future:  sustainability.

The idea of sustainability is being applied to our eating habits, our healthcare programs and our economy. This is a good thing,  as it offers a bright spot of hope and opportunity to the dark clouds otherwise looming on our collective economic horizons.  Despite early resistance and criticisms, I think if we give it a chance... sustainability might offer us a smooth ride in surprising comfort.

With thanks to the goddess!

Heffalumps and Woosils

There's been a strange flu going round these past weeks in the city, and it found its way to our home.  We've spent a fair amount of time cozying up here with the requisite amounts of chicken noodle soup, orange juice and Winnie the Pooh videos.

The original videos from the late 60's and early 70's are the ones to watch.   They tell A A Milne's story of Christopher Robin and friends with amazing creativity, veracity and musical whimsy.

And then there's this whole other very real drama going on about the economy, bailouts, stimulus packages, people in high places not paying taxes, etc etc.  Oh bother.  

Better safeguard your hunny!

'Nuff Said

Magic and Loss

Pictured at left is a 1938 Alfa Romeo 8C 2800.  This was the scrumptiously styled saloon car based on the fantastically successful Vittorio Jano designed track car.  These cars were pretty magical at their time of introduction, resplendent with the latest in innovation and styling, just a half step away from their race track brethren.  Even the exhaust manifold was art, sculpted with delicate fins so as to help keep the exhaust temperatures cool.  Such a car is not possible today.

And now these cars, of which only a few survive, are either museum pieces or a billionaire's bauble, tucked away in atmospherically controlled garages and far away from the thronging crowds and excitement of yesteryear's race course.  There's a bit of loss there, methinks.

And so it goes with our lives.  I see it with my child, that she has started out with such unabashed enthusiasm and delight in the magnificent and the mundane.  She loves her dollies to bits just as much as she loves unravelling the toilet paper roll.  She says "noshanks" to pieces of broccoli as enthusiastically as she slurps butter off of her toast.  She does not walk, but runs excitedly everywhere.

And I know that she will progress, grow and continue to experience the many delights as well as a few of the heartbreaks of a lifetime. Friends will come and go, success and failure visiting regularly and hope and faith will have to be constantly nurtured amidst growing older and hopefully wiser.  Slowly, a life of active track time will turn towards the stillness and quietude of the museum.

Guess I'd better get out of my own museum, back onto the track and back to oiling her wheels and greasing her enthusiasm for her own next few go-rounds anyways.

Its a good life, always filled with a bit of magic and loss.  Thanks Lou Reed, for the words and inspiration here.

Snow: good for kids, bad for Italian cars.

At less than three feet tall, my little girl loves to let herself fall into the snow outside.  Hasn't quite grasped the idea of snow angels yet.

And with less than 6 inches of ground clearance, my Italian car is just not getting out into the rutty roads created by the big snowfall.  Haven't seen anyone else's out either.  Imagine that.