The Time Machine

  The Jeep Scrambler CJ-8 original advertisement.  Only 27,792 of these babies were made between 1981 and 1986; built by AMC.  Looks like fun, doesn't it?  I especially like the picture of the couple canoodling in the back.  There's just something about objects from the past; they evoke certain feelings within us and, in a way, let us relive days gone by.  It's undeniable, how romantic the above montage is; a perfect coupling of adventure and the open road.

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.

(Here it is - exposure tweaked and graininess added to make it look like I found this "old" picture in a cardboard box under the stairs with some other treasures.)