Love in September

Available as an eBook on Amazon

Jason called her Carol.At first I thought she was his sister—a secret sibling he never mentioned before or a stepsister—but she wasn’t. Carol had long dark brown hair and greeneyes. She reminded me of Natalie Wood. She looked like she had just stepped outof the pages of a fashion magazine, complete with a trim figure that was wellformed where it needed to be, and graceful.

She was pretty and always wore attractive outfits. Long slender dresses referred to as pencil style dresses were part of the ensemble for ladies in the fifties and the style looked great on her. Sometimes she also wore that period’s popular pleated swing skirts with coordinating tops. There was never a time when she didn’t look nice. One could spend endless time just watching her walk. All the pieces blended together into one coordinated smooth motion.

A gold chain made of small hearts always adorned her neck. The sides of the chain merged together as they descended to where she buttoned her collar, and then disappeared down inside the front of her dress. She never wore it outside. I always wondered about that mysterious chain. She always smelled good, too. A fresh delicious sweet but not overpowering scent surrounded her that seemed to bond all her pleasant qualities together. I mentally put her on a pedestal. That's the way I was brought up.

The time was the fall of 1958 in Maryland. I remember what my mother told me. "Search the world for the precious beauty that it holds for you and never abuse it or take it for granted," she advised me. I always remembered that. It was from her that I learned to appreciate beauty no matter where I found it. She also cautioned me to obey rules or else they could come back to kick you hard in the pants if you played loose with them. She was a big believer in rules and doing what was right, as well as beauty.

My father on the other hand was more practical about rules and life. He was Mr. Logic all right. Everything had to follow some sort of practical plan for him. He always said that some rules were just begging to be broken. I reckon they were both right. But I suppose ultimately that it was my father’s logic that unknowingly influenced me that fateful fall of 1958.

In the fall of 1958, Lakewood, Maryland, a small community forty miles south of Baltimore, was filled with respectable people doing respectable things. I sure thought I was respectable, living there with my mom and dad —never thought otherwise. Back in 1958, rules were stricter for what was considered respectable behavior, especially in Lakewood, our happy little quiet community. At least on the outside it seemed happy and respectable.

$2.99

Also available on Apple, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and other fine sites

The Search for Amanda

 

This is my story. I am sitting in my living room as I write this. It is quiet but my thoughts are jumping back and forth. You can accept this account as fact or fiction but it doesn’t matter to me. This is the way I’m putting it down because this is the way I have to tell it. I don’t remember much about my life before it happened except that it seems normal now. It was probably something like yours. I didn’t believe just like many of you don’t. Maybe that’s good in a way and maybe it’s not. If nothing happens it’s great but if something bizarre happens—believe me, you just aren’t going to be ready for it.

My advice to you, for what it’s worth, is to not accept the world about you the way it seems. Always leave your mind open to the possibility, however absurd it may seem to you, that there are things we have not yet experienced, things that we cannot yet see, hear or feel, that seem unexplainable and illogical to us humans, yet they do exist.

Some say that we each have a doppelganger--another being, an exact double of ourselves that lives in a world just like ours in another dimension, and each lives a similar but not exact life. Maybe I’m my own doppelganger and the other me still lives and exists the way it was before it happened. If that is so, I wish him a happy and fruitful life, even without having experienced what I have.

As for me, whoever I am and whatever dimension I live in, I cannot go back to the way it was, and I now accept the concept that this is the direction my life was supposed to go, at least in this dimension.

I will begin this account by saying that everything seemed normal to me before. I had a great life and thought I had a great job. Everything seemed normal--until that night. I had gotten home late from my grandmother’s house after I had helped her paint the spare bedroom. I had done most of the paint work. She had done most of the supervising part of the job.

I was pleased with the way the room had turned out. Of course, I guess the supervisor had a lot to do with it, always pointing out spots I had missed and just how to paint the wood trim so the paint saturated the intricate crevices. My breaks consisted of getting something to drink and some chips and then heading for the living room for a few moments to stare at that picture on my grandmother’s wall, as I had many times before.

I always seemed to gravitate there since she had pulled it out of her attic and hung it up a while back. It was that picture of a high school homecoming event in her school’s gymnasium back in the 1950s that fascinated me so much. I was drawn to it like a magnet to a steel door--not because it was a relic of the nostalgic 1950s, but rather because of her…  

2.99

Also available on Apple, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Scribd, and other fine sites.

Ford Sunliner 1955 Convertible

They definitely don’t make them like they used to. I don’t know who owns this beauty, but he or she is one lucky person. It’s a 1955 Ford Sunliner convertible. I’d be afraid to drive one anywhere lest the whitewalls get dirty or something else happen to it—but that’s just me.

Although the 1955 Chevrolet with its heralded new small block engine, and new design was the most popular car of 1955, I still like the Ford’s design over the Chevy’s.

The new Ford sported a new longer (115.5 wheelbase) and lower body, although underneath it was similar to earlier Fords. The new body had crisp lines and accent chrome that evoked a feeling that it was moving forward, and also incorporated a wrap around windshield for the first time. An egg crate grill, large parking lights and new distinctive taillights complemented the design. The first factory installed Ford air conditioner termed ‘Select Aire’ was available as an option. 

The new Fords came in several model levels from the base Mainline to the Customline to the station wagon series, to the top of the line Fairlane named after Henry Ford’s Fair Lane mansion in Dearborn. The Fords came in various body styles including two and four door sedans, two and four door hardtops, two and four door station wagons, convertibles and even a model with an acrylic tinted sun panel called the Crown Victoria Skyliner. The latter wasn’t very popular. Although attractive because of the sun panel, it got very hot inside.

Consumers had their pick of a wide variety of colors from conservative colors like black and tan to vibrant beautiful tones of red, blue, yellow, green, and even pink. Two-tone schemes in numerous combinations graced the new body styles as well as single tone applications.

Unlike today’s drab gray interiors (You can have any color as long as it’s gray) that consumers, for some unknown reason, accept without complaints, Fords as well as other cars of that era had vibrant matching color interiors.

Under the hoods, the new Fords came with a 223 CID I6 OHV (Mileage Maker) inline six, a new 272 CID Y-Block V8 to replace the old flathead, and a 292 CID V8 called the Thunderbird engine, which was, as one might suspect also offered in the new T-Bird. (Other off the shelf Ford features were also used in the T-Bird.) Transmissions were the Ford-O-Matic and a three speed manual.

Total production for 1955 was 1,451,157 units, most of which were Fairlane Town Sedans (four doors with pillars), then Customline two door sedans, followed by Customline four door sedans and then Victoria hardtops (no pillars). The Crown Victoria Skyliners with the acrylic sun panels were the least purchased at 1999 units.

Fortunately there are a lot still around that have been restored to original condition. You won’t find them at your local used car lot though. Surfing the internet is the best way to find one, but expect to part with a good portion of your savings account to get one.

 

Proofreading and Editing Services

 

Writer member: Northwest Independent Writers Association

All inquires are welcome. Reasonable Rates are negotiable

This service on your manuscript will include proofreading and editing the items below. You will get a final copy and also a copy showing all changes so that you may review them.

capitalization

spelling

hyphenation

abbreviations

punctuation

numbers

grammar

syntax

Flow and logic will also be reviewed.