Birdsong

The Sun was blowing up this Cobra as it sat parked with the bay door of the garage rolled up. I’d snuck a shot of the blueMustang in the parking lot on a Sunday. It looked like a tree had taken out the deck lid and buckled the body. But today was Monday, and I was going to have to talk to someone if I wanted to look through the lens at the orange Shelby. “I like the way that orange paint shines,” I said. The owner looked intrigued, said he figured it would be alright if I photographed the car. Then he caught me taking pictures of all of his car manuals lined up in a bookshelf.

“Those aren’t a Cobra,” he said.

“No Sir, they aren’t. But you don’t see a wall of Chiltons and Haynes very often.”

“First computer, “ he said. He pointed to the lifts towering behind me and holding four thousand pounds of automobile in limbo. “You know your way around a garage?”

“Yessir, I’ve been photographing cars in garages for ten years.”

“Well, shop’s dirty, but do as you like. Don’t know what’s too interesting about this old place.”

“Pretty much everything.” I said.

He stifled a laugh and headed back into the office.