A month ago, my husband bought a 1982 Jeep Scrambler CJ-8. "Yeah honey, sure, that'd be fun," is how I felt about the whole thing . . . until we took the Jeep out for a spin. As we motored down the January road in our neighborhood, I felt the cold go out of me, and a little tugging at the corners of my mouth. The Jeep is in good condition, but at almost 30 years old is showing some age - just like all of us. I admired the dials and gadgets on the dash and most of all its originality; the fact that it hadn't been grossly modified. I imagined what it was like back in '82; the Jeep, the world? What was it like to drive it new, back in 1982? From where I sat, life then, looked a lot simpler and less harried than the lives we all lead now. I was just a kid in the early 80's, but how fun would it be to reproduce just one day; cruisin' in the Jeep, in my Levi's 501s, and listening to "Eye of the Tiger"? Quite frankly, it would have been RADICAL.
In my garage rests a bona fide time contraption, or at least it feels like it to me. Once the snow melts, the CJ-8 will become the ultimate family fun machine. I look forward to hitting the trail, leaving behind the day to day stresses, and rewinding to a more carefree time.
