Saturday, July 10, 2021

Goodbye, Old Blue


If you have spent much of any time in rural New England, you know that as a people we are prone to saving things that might be useful again someday.  One of our poets, Donald Hall, wrote a book of essays titled String Too Short to Be Saved.  He took the inspiration for this title from a container he found (I think it was an envelope, but it may have been a box) in the old family homestead, with just this label on it.  The pieces of string it contained were too short to be useful, but they had been saved anyway. 

Many New Englanders take this frugal habit to the extreme and save very large items like vehicles, campers, and even houses for potential later use.  Most of the people I know have an additional, unused vehicle somewhere on their property, and some have several.  Often, these are hauled out into the woods and sometimes they sort of sink out of sight out there. 

 

Old Blue here, this early 1970s pickup, was originally my Dad's, then my hubby's.  It plowed snow for many years and made countless trips to the dump.  But the time came when Old Blue was no longer roadworthy in anyway, so out to the woods it went.

We had decided that this would be the year that Old Blue would go to the scrapyard.  In our view, it was just time to get this vehicle out of our woods, along with some other bits and pieces of scrap metal.

But one day this spring, someone stopped and talked to my hubby, asking if he might take Old Blue off our hands (and off our property -- yay!).  Mr. T was happy with this solution, and they agreed that sometime this summer they would make the move.

They had to wait until the ground dried out from mud season.  So a July Saturday was recently agreed upon as The Day.  Of course, no one could have predicted the several days of monsoon-like weather that happened this week,  and the ground was pretty wet, but they proceeded with their plan this morning.

 


 And there goes Old Blue!  Off to a new home with plenty of company and the potential for future usefulness.

I'm posting this mostly for my Nevada daughter, but knew other readers would find it entertaining as well.  Hope you've enjoyed this look at real life in rural New Hampshire!

6 comments:

  1. That was fun to see the video after reading about Old Blue. I can imagine what a nice truck that was 50 years ago. :)

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    1. Yes, it really was. The fellow who has just acquired it has been admiring it (even in its derelict state) for years!

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  2. What a nice resolution. I wonder what he's going to do with Old Blue. My dad had a truck a lot like that only it was "Old Gray."

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    1. I think he is going to use it for parts. It may end up in the scrapyard eventually, but not until he has used all that he wants to from it.

      That's neat to know that your dad had an "Old Gray". We currently have "Old Red" which is a 1982 Chevy truck that Mr. T plows with. Only local, though. He has ag plates on it and fills the gas tank with a gas can ... won't even drive it to a very nearby gas station!

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  3. That was great! Thanks for the video! I felt a little lump in my throat as I watch "old Blue" go down the road. I am sure you all did too.

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    1. Thanks, Pam! We both smiled to think you felt a little lump in your throat as Old Blue was hauled away. As Vee said, though, it was a nice resolution to the story.

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