The point, the words, the distances

I sometimes wonder what's the point of VanDuchess moving on through her world of what we so often think of as inanimate existence, but then I find myself thinking back to moments with Elaine and some of the conversations we had in her different spaces, with Duchess moving down highways as Elaine would mosey on down to Arizona and back and forth around the Pacific Northwest when she was taking on time in a way that even before Duchess I knew was somewhat different than most of us take on time.
We tend to move through life without much thought about when it all will end, call it lazy or unappreciative or not so very observant of the tenuous nature of reality...
Duchess has been like a conduit of that energy. She has been with Elaine amongst great friendships and wondrous journeys, has sat there in evening shadows as conversations wafted like the campfire smoke within which the words became entangled and wafted away. Some of those conversations contained my own words and questions and times of silence as Elaine spoke in her kind, easeful way, sometimes pausing to look off into the distances.
Duchess sings the distances.

A breath of fresh air....

After taking delivery of Duchess last Wednesday, August 12th, 2009, we got right to work. Yvette went down to motor vehicles early the next morning, got her registered, and equipped her with new antique tags. I came home from work on Thursday and we started to clean. We shampooed and vaccumed the carpets and mattress, washed walls, cleaned windows and even removed a seat and got underneath there. After several hours of cleaning she was finally rewarded with a well deserved bath.

On Saturday, in preperation for attendance at a local vw show, the Terryville Bug-A-Fair, I started out in the morning by applying a good coat of wax to her. She responded appropriately by returning a shine, knowing that she was well protected. I then proceeded to detail all the rubber parts, from the trim around the "pop-top" to the trim around the windows down to the tires. Looking very good at this point and ready for her first showing. Yvette has some pictures from that event.

After much to-do with UPS (long story) I had received all the tune up parts that I had ordered. After work today, August 20th, I installed new cap, rotor, plugs, wires, and air filter. I have plenty of oil filters now, so an oil change and fuel filter will be next on this list. Just changing those items helped bring a breath of fresh air to the engine and by the exhaust note one could tell that she was feeling happy once more.

Elaine was here...

You know, it's interesting - here's a picture that Elaine took of the place where she and Duchess spent many evenings, and now when I took a picture of this, a light has appeared where Elaine was...

Duchess' New and Safe Home!

Leading up to Duchess' arrival im tounge tied..my mind is still a scramble.....Im so honored to have her as part of our collection! My personal favorite, she comes with the most amazing story so similar to my own, she will be well taken care of and LOVED!

off to Maine many years back

Off and... running

Duchess has made it out of her space of limbo! Yvette and Chris have taken her on as a... well, it's not for me to define, I can only say that it seems that they will challenge her with attention...

Mulling the distances

I was sitting out in the vanagon the other day, weighing options on a rickety scale of vague memories, emerging plans and well-nurtured dreams. The air was thick with a full=moon humid impending thunderstorm tension-entwined promise of restless thought. I sat trying to gather thoughts envisioning it being a bit like trying to capture wildflowers in the middle of a field within an all-out gale, everything being tossed within a wondrously chaotic dance, the vision of their sway presenting me with a mulled-wine complexity of texture and scent and aroma and sharp bite of spice-ridden sense of the distances I've travelled before and will travel again. Time to make a move. Time to take Elaine up on her invitation to define some core elements of the van's existence. Elaine would drive Duchess out into the desert and set up her space for the night. I've gone to that place where she used to park. I've looked for signs of her presence. I've sat and taken in the peaceful calm of desert monotone nothingness, but so extremely different from emptiness, with millions of hints of everything that was alive around me, wondering what she had been thinking on those nights alone. The cupboards has been filled with spices. She had been a wonderful cook. The cupboards are all empty now expect for some mouse shit. The van is emptiness embodied, like an empty womb, inviting.