MY DAD'S CAR IS BETTER THAN YOUR DAD'S CAR!!

CHECKERS

WOW, did I ever get the date for Bayfield's annual Thunderbird rally screwed up. You can imagine my surprise this morning when I headed over to Clan Gregor Square expecting to see a bunch of Ford Thunderbird's parked there. Nothing but grass, trees, & some kids playing in the playground. The date for the rally is actually to-morrow, Sunday July 26th. Just as well because it's raining like nuts here right now. Sorry guys, no car pictures to-night, just more.................flowers:(( FROG POND LILIES

In keeping with the car theme I am reminded of the Chev/Ford rivalry my friend Gary & I had going on back in 1961. His Dad had a brand spanking new 1961 black Chevy Impala & my Step-Dad had a brand spanking new 1661 black Ford Galaxy. Well, the rivalry between Chev man Gary & Ford man Al was "on" to say the least. Never at a loss for digs at each other about who had the nicest car & which one was best we continued that Ford/Chev rivalry for a fair few years. Down the street, Bob's Dad a spanking nearly new 1960 black Dodge Polaris but in those years the Dodges, along with their counterpart, Plymouth, were not really in the rivalry range for most of us. Chevs & Fords were the big guys & it would take the Chrysler car company many more years to get away from those cartoon-like & often laughable designs of the late 50's & early 60's to become the leading innovative Detroit design maverick they did become in these past 20 years or so. FEMALE ROSE BREASTED GROSBEAK

But, back to Gary & Al & their Chevy/Ford rivalry. Gary was a few years older than me so had his driver's license before I did. His Dad let him drive the Chevy Impala so Gary would often pick up a bunch of us guys & we'd had off to places like the Drive-In, their cottage at the lake, A&W, or just cruise around the streets of Tavistock looking cool with all the windows down on freezing cold days. It truly was a nice car with it's peppy engine, snappy red & white interior, big space age looking dash, & what seemed like acres of glass all way round. I never told Gary how much I liked the car because that just wouldn't have been a cool thing to do because, afterall, I was a Ford man right, and there was no admitting to my buddy Gary, the Chevy man, that his Dad actually had the nicer car. And there certainly was no room for saying a Ford was better than a Chevrolet in them there days either. OUR RESIDENT CLOWN.....CHIPPY

Now, fast forward about about 40 or 50 years to where I can now clearly see the folly of our spirited rivalry in those old days. It was not a case of a Ford being better than a Chev or a Plymouth being better than a Studebaker. They were all basically the same automobile. Not one was better or worse than the other. They all had flaws in their various models & they all had their good points. Some engines were better than others, some transmissions were really good & some were not so good. Interiors varied greatly but the basic materials were all the same. Car designs changed from year to year with some models being hotter than others for awhile as fads & trends came & went. There was no good or bad, no right & no wrong. No better or no worse when it came to the Detroit cars. It simply ended up with an individuals preference. In the end it all boiled down to a much simpler rivalry between young boys defending their Dads. MIGHT BE A SWEET PEA FLOWER

Remember that old saying, "my Dad's tougher than your Dad," Well, that's where it kind of all began & still continues in many psychological forms to-day. Our Government is better than your Government, Liberals are better than Conservatives, Republicans are better than Democrats, our religion is better than your religion, Macs are better than PC's, peanut butter sandwiches are better than garlic sandwiches, dogs are better than cats, tylenol is better than aspirin, Class A motorhomes are better than 5th wheels, my Dodge truck is better than your Ford truck, black is white, Wendy's is better than McDonalds, Ontario is better than Alberta, coke is better than pepsi,Alaska is better than New Mexico, butterscotch ice cream is better than maple walnut, or......... my Dad's car is better than your Dad's car!! And so it was, & so it is, & so it shall be..........forever & a day:)) ADDED A SECOND BIRD BATH TO THE POND PROJECT

GROANER'S CORNER: Can Napoleon return to his place of birth? Of Corsican.

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The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...AL.