A Glimpse Into The Past

I love looking at old photos. There’s just something about a real, paper picture that feels good to study. Many of the pictures that were taken in my youth have been lost or destroyed, but the ones that remain, although faded and tattered, still offer the memories and stories of times I have treasured and burned into my mind. I look at the backgrounds and see landscapes that may be the same, or maybe have completely changed over the years. I look at the price of fuel on the signs in old pictures – wow – what a difference there! I love studying the trucks that my dad used to drive. He was always very proud of his rigs, and I often think of how “state-of-the-art” they were for their time. I’ve submitted four faded, old pictures to go with this poem. In one you’ll see my dad’s brand new 1989 FLD120 that he got when I was in 6th grade. This was when the FLD body style first came out, and I was originally ticked-off that he would choose a space-aged looking truck over a flattop Peterbilt. But he wanted something different, and when I saw it in person, I was blown away at the metallic blue paint and the polished aluminum. In this picture, it was at Yellow Horse on the Arizona line, back when my dad was pulling for Pirkle Freightlines – he had a load of Kraft cheese on-board bound for Los Angeles. In another picture, my sister, Veronica, is standing next to dad in Orlando, in front of the 1979 Kenworth he drove for Howatt Inc. out of Everett, WA. That truck had a souped-up 400 Cummins with a 15-speed, and it was turned-up way more than it should have been! Then there’s the shot of the brand new Mack dad got in 1980. For some reason, probably just to be different, dad turned the grille upside-down – kinda silly, but what the heck. I was three years old when he had that truck, and I remember it being the first one I ever saw my mom drive. Lastly, you’ll see the photo of the brown K-100 Aerodyne my dad drove in 1984 – he hauled a lot of Bayliner boat parts to Clearwater, FL back then. In this picture, you can see my grandpa, John, on the left edge of the photo, waving at my brother, Jamie, and my uncle, David, as they departed from Twin City Foods in Arlington, WA on a cross-country trip with my dad. I never rode much in that truck, since he only had it for a short time. Back then, I missed his Freightliner – I was not so convinced that the KW was all that impressive! But, honestly, I loved every truck dad ever had. I don’t want to apologize for the faded quality of these images. In fact, I actually encourage you to dig through yours and share the stories they hold. There’s nothing quite like the stories in a faded photograph!

FADED PHOTOS
by Trevor Hardwick

In my house there is a closet,
In the corner of the room.
In the closet there are boxes,
Stacked beside the pan and broom.

In the boxes are some pictures,
Of the good ol’ days gone by.
In the pictures are reminders,
Of how rapidly time flies.

Here’s a picture of a ‘Shaker,
From back in 1989.
It was sittin’ in the sun,
Near the Arizona line.

In the ‘Shaker was a Cummins,
And the paint was royal blue.
In the Cummins was a button,
And that sucker flat-out flew!

In the wrinkles and the crinkles,
Of that faded photograph.
Are a thousand words and stories,
That could make me cry or laugh.

Here’s another faded image,
Of a 1980 Mack.
The grille flipped upside-down,
And the license plates are stacked.

Daddy drove for Thoroughbred,
When that old Mack was new.
He had it ‘round the time,
That Mt. St. Helens blew.

Here’s a tattered blurry image,
Of my sister and my dad.
At a motel in Orlando,
And a K-Dub that he had.

The image may be faded,
But the memory is clear.
Dad was running strong,
And I would graduate that year.

A picture of my grandpa waving,
Toward my dad’s old rig.
That K-100 Aerodyne,
Was brown and it was big!

All these faded pictures,
May be poor in quality.
But faded pictures take me back,
To a place I’d like to be.

Today we have our smart phones,
And our high-tech digi-toys.
But I love paper pictures,
And those faded Polaroids.

So look through all your albums,
Through your boxes, books and such.
Take a trip down memory lane,
In your old man’s cool old trucks.