Paint On A Car

May 18, 2022

I have been painting an old car for the last month. Starts and stops and more starts but now I am done. The car is a Mercedes 300TD from the early 1980’s. It was in the buildings which were car fix-it shops but now are going to be places to eat and drink and socialize. The Westside Motor Lounge asked me to paint the car. I hope they enjoy it. I have painted on a Honda van and an old yellow school bus on Sapelo Island and a rusty and red 1984 S-10 Chevy truck but never a car.

I enjoyed working there. Lots of things were going on. Men yelling — Cranes overhead lifting — machines digging. Every job like this is different. So much to get used to and adjust to. Then it is time to go home. I would set my tent up over the car. I sat on a little stool or on the ground on my puffy pad. No ladders needed this time. I liked being able to move quickly around the entire car. My five gallon buckets and brushes and paints — My little plastic quart cups from the market — A sheet of old cardboard from the child car seat box.

I had looked up the map of the area. The location I was painting was a car repair shop / junkyard of sorts. It looked like 100’s of cars sat here for years. Where were they now? Behind me where now the men were working and lifting and yelling sat at least 4 homes. On the satellite photo I could see their foundations and grass and trees. Lifetimes now dug up and covered with concrete and steel. I saw birds fly over and across — Red tailed hawks, Coopers hawk — A swallow. I bet they remember the houses below. I put everything in my old truck and drove back home for the night.

Van, bus, truck, car … now you can ride real far.

See you soon,
Kyle BlackCatTips Brooks