Reversing inertia. Stopping what is started, starting what is stopped. An expectant moment, the pause before the opposite impulse takes hold, the space between inhalation and exhalation, the now for which the meditator strives, the space in which the Buddha is said to reside. Imagine the pistons of the steam engines aboard Titanic stopped, then started in reverse, the triple screws in full reverse trying to halt that big, unsinkable man made box from colliding with nature.
On a purely physical level my situation with Old Number 818650BW is less dramatic. Jack her up, bull her around, drag her onto a trailer and drive her to a new location for resurrection. Perhaps because of my enthusiasm she came out of the barn more easily than she went in.
On an emotional level restarting a stalled project after thirty-five years requires an intellectual and psychological examination of how and why I piloted this car into the iceberg of stasis to begin with. That’s where the inertia really lay: inside my head.
I was happy to see her on a trailer. It was a first step; it was action, and action can feel good. Just breaking her loose from that barn was an accomplishment. A barn is no place for a car; barns are for horses and hay. A car in a barn is not a happy car.
It was a festive, exciting day. After she was all bowsed down on the trailer, sunshine warming up the old body panels I grabbed a coffee, jumped in the cab of the tow vehicle and popped the lever into D. The trailer’s wheels broke friction and me and that old car were moving again …
Tags: Automobile Restoration, British sports cars, classic cars, Jaguar, Jaguar XK, Jaguar XK140
Car in Tow 
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