Sunday, May 29, 2005 | ||
Bad Links? | The Ferret Angel
We are not talking here about the PetSmart warm and furry ferret, but the British postwar four-wheeled armored car that was used by over 35 countries around the world. You could look at it as the original Humvee or a least a close predecessor. As you might have concluded by now, I have been a military collector of soldier artifacts ever since I unpacked my fathers military pack from the Korean War in 1953. After two wonderful trips to Vermont on Delta buddy passes to do all the preventative maintenance and to get the Ferret ready to ship, we finally got his beautiful beast tightly squeezed into our garage. This is the beauty of owning a Ferret. Where else could you own a piece of running armor and be able to park it into your home garage? And the beauty and romance continues with the fact that you can pull it on a trailer behind a regular heavy pickup truck. I know you are wondering how to run out and purchase one of these creatures, right? Well, first of all, be sure you can sleep on the couch comfortably for several weeks until your wife gets used to the idea. Then be sure you dont mind the fact that these Ferrets are not house broken. For some reason, they mark their territory, as my good friend Ryan Gill often says. That means in ferret talk that they, like all British vehicles, leak oil. It has often been said, If they are not leaking, there is no oil in them. Ryan is also the proud father of a Ferret, along with Tony C. and Jack W. We are all members of the Georgia Chapter of the Military Vehicle Preservation Association. Our chapter was started by Mike Criscillis, who is now the curator and director of the Army in Atlanta Military Museum at Ft. McPherson. Imagine a military vehicle club with four of these beauties in it! The best thing you can do for an old vehicle is to get out and drive it. This does several things. It keeps everything lubricated and in most cases working, and it allows you to have more fun than a body ought to. This was exactly what I was doing last Sunday in Fayetteville, after church, when all of a sudden I started hearing a sputtering out-of-gas sound. Now there are some worse sounds than this, but not many. I immediately steered this 4 1/2-ton romantic animal to the side of the road and thus began a wonderful Ferret Angel experience. Most people who own old vehicles have every tool imaginable at home in their shops, but home and the road are two very different experiences. So there I was with this beautiful armored vehicle broken down along the road with people coming out of their houses to see what armored alien had landed in their front yard. I am very happy to see people, enjoying themselves, taking pictures of the Ferret, but not when you are broken down. It goes from elation to total embarrassment. Then out of nowhere the Ferret Angel appeared. I looked up after about three or four attempts to start the beast, and there was this very fine looking, smiling gentleman asking if he could help in any way. Now here is where our male machismo kicks in. It is a guy thing for sure. Most of us guys dont want to admit that they cant get their own vehicle started, so I politely waved off the help, and continued cranking the starter, knowing at any minute she would purr on, and I would wave, and drive off with the crowds cheering. The next worst sound after the out-of-gas sound is the starter cranking but nothing is firing. Now this is a whole different set of problems. To make a long story short, The Ferret Angel not only helped me for the next hour to include the dismantling of the carburetor, but ended up towing me home. Now THE most embarrassing scenario possible, for old car owners, is to be towed home. It is like stumbling on your own feet in the most important game of the year and being carried on off the field on a stretcher. Out of this catastrophe developed a great Ferret friendship. Since then we have spent several great hours getting greasy and fixing the beast for another try at the joys of making the Ferret purr once again. So if you see us tooling around Fayetteville or Senoia, dont call the cops! Its just us two suspicious looking guys; the preacher and the Ferret Angel. P.S. His Initials are B. J. Do you believe in Angels? I do. I met one. P.P.S. Heavenly Hint! There are angels out there still. They serve a risen savior and his saints, even today. As I understand the faith, God wants us to use whatever we have to glorify Him. I was going to put My Hummer can Beat your Hummer but Jesus Saves would be better, or do you believe people are confused enough? Check out our new God and Country Salute to the Troops outreach Web site at www.ddaytravelingmuseum.com. (The churchs Web site is under construction and will be up and running shortly.) |
|
Copyright 2004-Fayette Publishing, Inc. |