Happy Birthday To TheGentlemanFarmer

My dad, whom I affectionately refer to as TheGentlemanFarmer was born on February 18, 1924. I love him and miss bouncing ideas off his intelligent being since he left us to join a whole bunch of other cool folks in 2003.

Anyway, last week I did a post over on Hooniverse, a car related blog I contribute to on a semi regular basis. I thought those of you Counting Along With Me might enjoy reading up on just some of the cool stuff he owned in his lifetime. And how he was able to that on a journalist's income is still a mystery to me.

Alas, one this olelongrooffan won't be able to solve in my lifetime.

Anyway, it's directed toward the Hooniverse audience but those of you Counting Along With Me will get it also. I hope all y'all enjoy it and remember to take every opportunity to

Celebrate Life.

Here it is. By the way, the "pseudo folksy" writing style I refer to is something a couple of critical commenters mentioned early on in my blogging career over there.



Once again, I must offer my apologies to my fellow Hoons. As usually seems to be the case, this olelongrooffan just couldn't stop once I got started so be prepared for some more of my rambling ways. And yes, it is kind of "pseudo-folksy"

Allow me to start out by saying that longroofs have had a fond place in the heart of this olelongrooffan since I was a mere toddler. The first one I remember was this '65 Country Squire dad owned when we moved to the Queen City of the Ozarks from St. Louis.



A ways back, the esteemed Mr. Brennan did a Hooniverse Wagon Wednesday post about a longroof that triggered this whole thought process and one this olelongrooffan fondly remembers from my youth. I had thought that any image of it was lost during the settlement of my folks estates but, thankfully, this olelongrooffan was pleasantly surprised to receive an image of it from one of my older brothers, the Bus, recently and I thought I might share it with my fellow Hoons.



Now longroofs have played an important role in my folks life. When my Mom was a mere teenage hottie, her dad had this cool old woodie wagon. As I've said previously, I really believe this is why my dad married her.



Early in their married life, just after my dad built the brick house in the background, he was hooning around Shrewsbury, Missouri in this awesome Willys Station Wagon.



As his brood continued to enlarge, he acquired this ultra sweet Mercury longroof complete with wood siding. This was one beautiful automobile and my older brothers still talk about that creature with reverence.



Alas, as my Mom continued to pop out kids to the tune of one every two years, the decision was made to move from conventional longroofs to the ultimate longroof, a Volkswagon Microbus, of which my folks owned two at the same time. The first ones sold in the greater St. Louis area. Yeah, that is Mom and Dad in the above photo with my brother, thejeepjunkie, resting comfortably awaiting his entry into this world in a few months time and, undoubtedly, dreaming about all of the vintage CJ's he would eventually wheel and deal.



A few years later, my dad accepted a position as the founding editor of a Roman Catholic newspaper in southern Missouri and the entire clan moved lock, stock and barrel to the Ozarks. That is thejeepjunkie hamming it up in the above photo while this olelongrooffan is watching those movers work while almost simultaneously walking off the tailgate on the rear of that vintage moving van.



My dad, who always seemed to have a Hoonworthy car, drove that soon to be damaged '65 the five hours down Highway 66 towing the "A" he, thejeepjunkie and I later partially restored.



One of the favorite past times of our clan at the time was camping. I mean with ten kids on a journalist's income, there is not a bunch of discretionary income available for spending on amusement park tickets nor on hotel rooms. Mom's daily driver '65 was commissioned as the transport vehicle to Table Rock Lake dang near every weekend during the spring, summer and fall months. The green '62 Belair to the right in the above photo belonged to my grandmother, yes Granny, and had a two speed transmission mated to a 283 (IIRC) engine. Ah, the things I think I remember from my youth. My grandfather, his name was Man, drove a '56 Belair post at the time.



After Mom's '65 recorded 98,000 miles on its clock, Dad traded it in on a similar '67 Country Squire, one of my favorite all time vehicles. I remember thejeepjunkie and I riding in the back back on the way to the lake and rushing to be the first to identify an oncoming vehicle. I damn near always won, something my younger brother still talks about to this day.



The '67 even spent some winter time with my Dad and a couple Catholic priests playing in the snow. The dude on the left, Fr. Bob Landewe, is a lifelong family friend and performed both Mom and Dad's funeral services many years ago.



While my older brother was overseas in southeast Asia defending freedom seekers, my folks decided to divest themselves of dad's project "A",



and sell the recently acquired tent trailer and



the big house in the city and shuck it all for



this truck and a 173 acre farm. Yeah, we were Green Acres and the Beverly Hillbillies combined. Yeah, the wheel even fell off TheGentlemanFarmer's tractor.



However, my folks did stay in touch with their city friends, including Else Watson who drove this wedge off the showroom floor back in this country's bicentennial birthday year.



And lest my fellow Hoons think living on a farm is a breeze, check out the load of hay on that old Sweptline. This is not a staged shot. We four boys, two of them city kids, thejeepjunkie and this olelongrooffan, hauled that hay from "Dad's field" (the biggest one) and tossed it into that little square hole on the second floor of that old oak barn.



And my dad, now known as TheGentlemanFarmer, was able to stumble his way into the ownership of yet another Hoonworthy automobile to add to his collection. This DS21, a 71 Dodge pickup, a 51 Ford stepside pickup, a Buick LeSabre, a Ford longroof, and



this tractor along with assorted tractor impliments made up the vehicular livery my dad called his own. And I'll bet my fellow Hoons thought I was lieing about that wheel falling off.



And mom continued to grill dinner for her brood nearly every night. Only now it was beef, pork, mutton and veggies harvested right there on "Haven Lee Farm."

Now about this time, this olelongrooffan can hear my fellow Hoons screaming "What the hell does this have to do with Mr. Brennan's post about a Plymouth longroof?"

Well, I'll tell ya. When my folks decided that we "four little kids", as we are known as to this day and I am the oldest at 52 and the baby is 46, needed to have proper schooling (read Catholic school education) they decided to sell most of the farm and move back to the city. During that move, my dad bought his last longroof.



That's correct my fellow Hoons. A 1976 Plymouth Gran Fury Sport Suburban. Maroon with the requisite vinyl wood siding and a light cream vinyl interior. Yes, it was powered by a gas sucking 440 that roared whenever this 16 year old longrooffan would punch the accelerator. Man it was fun but my dad was always, and I mean always, bitching about its fuel consumption. I think he secretly knew why though. And that chicken in the above photo? When we moved back to the city, it was to three acres of semi woodlands just 12 blocks from the downtown square. My folks had grown accustomed to farm fresh eggs so a few of those hens and a rooster or two made the move with us. Yeah, it's hard to take the hillybilly out of an Ozarkian, even transplanted ones.



Shortly thereafter, dad's DS21 decided to cease running and he sold it to a dentist out in the Mile High City and dad decided that shortbed Blue Oval pickups were to be his newest Hoonworthy rides. He bought this '67 in 82 and then an '80 a few years later. The rear end of the farm owned 51 pickup can be seen in the background of this photo.



And my folk's camping desires resurfaced so dad picked up this Mobilux motorhome to satisfy those desires. Man, there are a ton of stories about this brown campercar this olelongrooffan will share with my fellow Hoons someday. Yeah, google image image "Mobilux" and see how many show up. Prior to my getting the above image, I did and there was exactly one. A powder blue one. Just think, with the publication of this post, the population of Mobiluxes on the net will double!



As Dad got older and over his love for shortbeds and '66 Bonnevilles and Catalinas, he downsized substantially and picked up this Fix It Again Tony for Hooning around in. But see those wagons he built in the foreground? He, much like this olelongrooffan, just couldn't stay away from woody wagons. Dad presented the smaller one to my, now 17 year old daughter, on her birthday. Not for her birthday but on her birth day in 1995.

RIP to TheGentlemanFarmer and thanks for the vehicular influence you provided to this olelongrooffan. And for the "pseudo-folksy" writing style you provided to this olelongrooffan to share with my fellow Hoons.

A Great Day After Birthday

So Counters, this olelongrooffan had a quiet 52nd birthday and pretty much just surfed around these tubes on Thursday.



However, Friday was anything but quiet. This olelongrooffan has blogged many times about my sister-in-law, newly christened thebeachgoddess. The image of her above was taken a while back during a fateful afternoon back when she was thebarngoddess and a bunch of us built her a Chicken Coupe de Ville out on Haven Lee Farm up in the Missouri Ozarks.



This is an image of her with her team of miniature horses and her Springfield wagon during one of the many parades she and thehorsefarmer participated in back in the day.  She is always smiling, isn't she?



Yes, I just had to include an image of that aforementioned Chicken Coupe de Ville and



like their horses, their chickens are miniature also.



Now last spring thebarngoddess and thehorsefarmer ventured off the cow path to come down to the Birthplace of Speed and spend a wonderful couple of weeks hanging with thejeepjunkie, the Kid and this olelongrooffan.



And the ever so sweet beachgoddess made sure this olelongrooffan had something to eat all the while they were here.



Well, as this olelongrooffan has previously mentioned, thebarngoddess and thehorsefarmer had so much fun down here in the Birthplace of Speed they decided to divest themselves of a bunch of horses, tack, wagons, trailers and tractors and move to the blue hair Sunshine State joining three of his four brothers.



And thehorsefarmer, now thebeachbiker, traded his big *ssed zero turn mower for a beach bike and barbeque grill.



And it should be noted thebeachgoddess will be needing that sweater and scarf should she decide to venture out onto our Atlantic beach this coming January.

So by now, this olelongrooffan can hear those Counting Along With Me, what the h*ll do thebeachgoddess and thebeachbiker have to do with my 52nd birthday and the day after?

Well Counters, refresh that cocktail and this olelongrooffan will relate the happenings of Friday, the last day of September down here in the Birthplace of Speed and its surrounds.

And Away We Go...

After thebeachgoddess and thebeachbiker had made their decision to join their fellow family members down here in the Sunshine State, they decided to have their factory fresh lightly used 2003 Ford Taurus (you know a car had to factor into this blog somehow, didn't you?) receive a service update at their local Ford dealership.  This dealership had performed service on this sedan since the day it was driven off their lot and their service performance had been stellar.  However, on the last visit that Taurus made to that dealership, something went awry and, unfortunately, this problem was not realized until after the Bus had delivered that car to thebeachgoddess and thebeachbiker down in the oldest city in the United States.

A couple weeks ago when they were down visiting this olelongrooffan at the Taj Mahal, thebeachbiker mentioned the Bull was not acting correctly and this fact was mentioned to thejeepjunkie when we finally caught up to him. Of course, that conversation evolved into the isomerics of air pressure in tires with regards to hot versus cold measurement of the same. My eyes kind of glazed over at that point, by the way.

So, anyway, it was determined thebeachgoddess and thejeepjunkie would coordinate their respective schedules and get that Bull down here to the home of the World's Most Famous Beach so thejeepjunkie could get a look at it in his new shop. Well, they set that visit up to coincide with this olelongrooffan's 52nd but due to a scheduling conflict with some of thejeepjunkie's best customers, that meeting was postponed until the following day.

thebeachgoddess and this olelongrooffan determined it would be best if she swung by the Taj Mahal and pick me up prior to heading to thejeepjunkie's shop. We were going to utilize thejeepjunkie's pickemup truck while the Bull was getting diagnosed as to what was up with it.  thebeachgoddess had a few specific things she wanted to do but the rest of the day was left up to this olelongrooffan to figure out what to do. She did, however, comment that she was, once again, feeding this olelongrooffan as she is trying to "put some meat on your bones."

So we got to thejeepjunkie's shop, picked up his pickemup truck and thebeachgoddess mentioned she was starving. Of course, the first thing I mentioned was that we should head over to the Boot Hill Saloon on Main Street and grab some Bloody Mary's and a burger. Well, I must say thebeachgoddess has a great sense of humor, as well as being extremely attractive, but this wasn't what she really had in mind and we just grabbed a quick eggamuffin from Ronny's place.

Now, here I must interject this point. As I have mentioned at least one time previously, this olelongrooffan has been known to be the tour guide. As such, I always strive to provide guests or travelling companions new and interesting destinations and try to venture onto new avenues so as not to get my guests bored with the same old scenery.

Well, Counters, this olelongrooffan, try as I might, failed miserably in my task as a tour guide that day as we drove past these five different times that Friday. thebeachgoddess knows their entire history as well as the location of The Best Damn Garage In Town.

So anyway, we headed out to Sam Walton's big box store where entry requires a little blue card and did us some shopping. Now this olelongrooffan can't remember the last time I was in a big box retailer that didn't specialize in home improvement products but I do know it has been at least ten years. I mean a single guy doesn't really have a need for a 48 pack of toilet tissue or a twenty pound pork tenderloin no matter how inexpensive the per unit cost is. Yeah, I was in sensory overload that is for sure.

After that we again passed by those vacant towers to return to the Taj Mahal to put a bunch of that stuff in the massive refrigerator to keep all that stuff fresh for thebeachgoddess's return trip to her new home town.

We then headed out to the Daytona Beach Flea Market to see what could be seen.  I have lived here for three and a half years and only have been to that market once previously. As we were leaving, I related this fact to thebeachgoddess and she commented that she could see why.

While we were there, thejeepjunkie called with the prognosis on the repairs to the Bull and, after consultation with thebeachbiker, authorization was provided to thejeepjunkie to perform the necessary corrections to get thebeachgoddess's daily driver back up to snuff.

In the meantime, lunch was in order and as we were passing the Daytona International Speedway, I recommended we eat at some Mom-n-Pop place down on Beach Street rather than some restaurant chain there on International Speedway Boulevard. thebeachgoddess concurred and we ended up at a great little Mexican restaurant that I have previously seen but had not previously frequented.



It turned out to be an excellent decision as the food was abundant and delicious, even if the hot sauce was a little to hot for thebeachgoddess. The portions were so gigantic this burrito came home with this olelongrooffan and I thanked thebeachgoddess for the birthday lunch and dinner!

Over lunch, we had an excellent conversation about life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. thebeachgoddess commented on how much they enjoy St. Augustine and that she wouldn't mind getting a cheap fishing pole to use in the lake at the place they call home.

After a quick trip through a nearby over priced antique mall, we decided to head back to the Taj Mahal and take a break. Upon arrival, we spent a few minutes on the massive veranda enjoying the ubiquitous ocean breeze and soon thereafter, this olelongrooffan could see a nap would be welcome in thebeachgoddess's world and suggested one. She commented that she didn't want to be rude and I admonished her that she still had to drive home and this olelongrooffan was not offended in the least.

I spent some time on these here webs and then divided up some of those Sam's acquired provisions as thebeachgoddess had instructed me to do. Shortly thereafter, the massive communication system here at the Taj Mahal lights up and as it is thejeepjunkie, I answered with "Is it done yet?"  "Come and get it," was the not unexpected response.

And we did. thebeachgoddess was thrilled at how well the Bull ran and the fact the air was, once again, ice cold. On the way back to the Taj Mahal, we stopped and topped off the fuel for her hour long trip home. We got back to the Taj Mahal and loaded up her provisions and got her on the road to be reunited with thebeachbiker.

A little while later, this olelongrooffan was getting a cold sodie pop out of the frig and noticed that I had forgotten to load this in the box for thebeachgoddess to take home.



Now I don't know how I missed it and even worse, how long will it take me to eat a pound of organic baby spring mix lettuce?



And the final cool thing? While thebeachgoddess was enjoying that much needed rest, this olelongrooffan headed out to pick up some more sodie pops and as I was driving down the street, I spotted this fully functional fishing pole beside the road awaiting pick up by the big green truck that travails my street twice a week. I remembered our conversation over lunch and snagged this for thebeachgoddess. After all, my favorite four letter word is "free".

A wonderful day was had by thebeachgoddess and this olelongrooffan that day and even though we never did make it to the Boot Hill Saloon we certainly did

Celebrate Life.

Decision Made

So yesterday, this olelongrooffan blogged about the decision my brother and his beautiful wife made to relocate from a small farm in the Missouri Ozarks to St. Augustine Beach, Florida.



Well, today they came down and visited this olelongrooffan in the Birthplace of Speed and treated this soon to be birthday boy to lunch at a yummy mom and pop restaurant just up the beach.  We figured it would be better than the last time we had lunch together in April as the parking lot was near capacity and they were celebrating their 25th year in business.

My stuffed tilapia was delicious and their fried haddock was equally as good.

We had a wide ranging conversation about their new life here in the Sunshine State and it was an extremely enjoyable lunch.

Afterwards, we headed over to thejeepjunkie's garage to chat it up with him a bit about his new gig. Seems he really likes it and looks to have some big plans for his future.

So anyway, after jawboning for awhile the decision was made that they needed to head on home so they could hit Happy Hour.

"What time does Happy Hour start?" I asked my brother.

"As soon as I get home," was his response.

D*mn straight brother!



One of the things he talked alot about was getting out and riding down on the beach on his new bike he received from his lovely spouse.



And that lovely spouse mentioned how relaxing it was just hanging on the beach and watching the kids play in the shallow surf.

After they had dropped this olelongrooffan back at my Taj Mahal, I was reflecting on our visit and was able to make a decision.

thehorsefarmer and the thebarngoddess have officially left the building.

Henceforth they shall be, herein, referred to thebeachbiker and thebeachgoddess.

You are now christened.

And earlier this olelongrooffan mentioned they treated me to an early birthday lunch. (I turn 52 on the 29th of this month)

Well they also brought me an early birthday present.



Knowing my interest in all things automotive, earlier this year while thebeachgoddess was in good ole Saint Louey...hey Bus and PvtRN...she spotted this at a closing Borders book store and snagged it for me.



It measures 9"x11" and is nearly an inch and a half thick.  thebeachbiker mentioned he was just going to leave it on the coffee table at the Taj Mahal while this olelongrooffan was still in Denver but realized both the Bus and thejeepjunkie had access to my place and this thing might "grow some legs". The first thing I did was write my name inside the front cover!

I have this to say about that....this olelongrooffan has many enjoyable hours ahead reading that new treasure and that, along with seeing the newly christened thebeachbiker and thebeachgoddess today, really allows me to

Celebrate Life.

Decisions, Decisions

You may remember thehorsefarmer and thebarngoddess from their mention in some of my previous posts here on By The Numbers.



Well while this olelongrooffan was working my sweet *ss off out there in the Mile High City, thehorsefarmer and thebarngoddess



decided to quite making decisions like this one, sell all their farm stuff and move to sunny Florida, the retirement mecca of the eastern United States.  Technically, they aren't retired yet. thehorsefarmer is still pulling a post Navy retirement stint with the VA institution up there in the oldest city in North America



Yeah, a major life changing decision to vacate this big ole garage, 4x4 diesel Bow Tie (they still have another one with six wheels) and that sweet gen 1 Bronco and join three of his brothers down here in the Sunshine State.



I think it was the day on the beach back in April that really sealed the deal for them.

Oh yeah, the title of this post? These previously made decisions did not prompt me to name this post "Decisions, Decisions".

You see earlier this evening thehorsefarmer called this olelongrooffan to invite me to lunch on the morrow down here in the Birthplace of Speed. And of course, the quasi absent minded TheGentlemanFarmer look alike called me back just a few minutes later to ask about certain siblings birthdates.

As we were finishing up that conversation, he mentioned he had yet another serious decision to make.

"longroof, I can't decide if I want to crack open a beer or fix myself a gin and tonic."

Yeah, honest to God true story and I thank thehorsefarmer for cracking my blog writer's block I have been recently suffering with by offering up that comment.

And as much as I am looking forward to seeing them tomorrow, once this olelongrooffan is able to come up with some new, now more appropriate names for thebarngoddess and thehorsefarmer, then there will really be a reason to

Celebrate Life.

Happy Birthday To thehorsefarmer

Sunday, June 5 is one of my older brother's birthday and I wanted to wish him a Happy Birthday Weekend

and yes, that front seat did need to be removed.

My Apologies To TheLittlePrincess

Now Counters, regardless of what you may have read, this olelongrooffan genuinely likes people.

By demonstration, you may remember this olelongrooffan had the opportunity to test drive the Nissan Leaf a month or so ago.  While I was there I was able to snag a several of the free Leaf bracelets that sweet young thing had on the refreshment bar she was attending.

Well, a couple weeks ago I finally decided to clean the Taj Mahal, yeah, it's a once a month kind of thing, and got a bunch of those bracelets off to my fantastic nieces and nephews up in the cold white north.

Well, I am certain some of them made it to their destinations via those uniformed government employees that visit our homes 6 days a week as the Bus had an image of one of the recipients of those prized bracelets on his facebook page a few days ago.

Now, I had also sent a bracelet to TheLittlePrincess who, I thought, resided on Haven Lee Farm up in Marionville, Missouri.  A few days later, this olelongrooffan received a rare phone call from the Shark Angel informing me that an envelope has indeed arrived out on Haven Lee Farm but said envelope had been marked by our fair uniformed friends as "Opened and Contents Lost".

"No worries Steph, I have another and I'll get it off."

And I did.

Now all of the other bracelets I had sent, about a dozen, all arrived without a problem but it seems those folks up there in Marionville  Aurora, Missouri must have a thing against anything new fangled as this arrived in the mailbox at the Taj Mahal on Saturday.

But don't worry LittlePrincess, it will be, once again, off in the mail again tomorrow and by this time next week, hopefully, you will be joining all your cousins in the wearing of this free bracelet courtesy of this olelongrooffan and the Nissan Leaf.

Personally Seen Vintage Door Art

So my brother, the Bus, now that the 2010 midterms are over, decided to get back to doing some blogs about trucks. He did one about a super cool robins egg blue one ton Chevy he rebodied a week or two ago. You Counters can check that blogpost out here and be sure to click on through for his history of it.

Then yesterday he provided us with a link to vintage door art. You can check that one out here. In that post, he provided we Busriders with the following image

and the link to where he found it.

Upon seeing those cool images of vintage door art, this olelongrooffan thought I would include a couple I have seen over the past couple of years.

I spotted this one somewhere in north central Florida (maybe Waldo?) during one of my On The Road adventures. I happened to be driving by a car lot and spotted it. That's what happens when you stay off the Eisenhour Highway System! The main reason it was recorded is the fact that Carthage, Mo is located less than 40 miles from Haven Lee Farm, Halltown Edition.
Now, the following one I got in between Marionville, Mo and Halltown, Mo during another On The Road trip this olelongrooffan took way back in 2008. I had spent another wonderful Day On The Farm with thehorsefarmer, thebarngoddess and their family. I was headed back to the Queen City of the Ozarks preparing to return to the Birthplace of Speed. I now forget the burg I was in but remember this old truck and its Vintage Door Art.

Incidentally horsefarmer, both of these trucks are Internationals!

And still, at this olelongrooffan's advance age, remembering these two moments in time, and having the Bus jog my memory of them, absolutely provides this olelongrooffan the ability to

Celebrate Life.