Land-Barge

1967 Dodge Coronet 440 convertible.

A couple weeks ago, while driving up to Rochester for a picnic, I passed a gigantic Mopar land-barge from the late ‘60s.
Mopar meaning Chrysler product, a Dodge, or Plymouth, or perhaps even a Chrysler.
It was a red convertible, top-down, and had four people inside it.
All were smiling.
The joy of convertibles is something forgotten.
My first ride in a top-down convertible was a white 1956 Buick.
I was in seventh grade. It was 1957.
My first car, long ago, was a roadster, a 1968 Triumph TR250.
We put the top down occasionally, but mostly drove top up.
Ya don’t see convertibles much any more.
Blame it on air-conditioning.
I do it myself.
Crank all the windows closed, and turn on the air.
Beats the draft of an open convertible.
Just the same, I miss having a convertible.
I can still remember joyous blasts over country roads top-down.
During my final year at college, I borrowed the ’62 Ford convertible of a friend.
It too was red.
I quite naturally put the top down.
Off to Canaseraga over rural country two-lanes.
No wonder those people in that Mopar were smiling.

• “We” is me and my wife of almost 43 years, “Linda.”
• “Canaseraga” (“Kan-uh-ser-AH-guh”) is a small rural town in western New York.