Yesterday defied the meteorologists and the afternoon was sunny and cool. I
had a hectic, typically Monday, day at work, and as I drove home all I
could think of was how nice it would be to take the Midget out for a drive.
The MG season was coming to a close, snow was predicted for tomorrow, and
I wanted to get her out a few more times before I had to put her away for
the winter. We'd been in the garage all weekend; new radius arms and rear
shocks, so I took a few extra minutes to check torque settings and by the
time I set out the sky had turned gray and dusk was approaching. I was in
a bit of a melancholy mood, savoring the sound of the exhaust note and the
pretty Fall colors, knowing that another long Minnesota Winter was soon to
be endured. The Midge was running nicely and the tightened rear suspension
might have produced just enough extra oversteer to turn my smile up a bit.
As it darkened a light rain started to fall, and I put up the top and
thought about heading home. I'd had a good ride, and my wife would be
waiting for me. Then I noticed that the rain had changed, hardly
noticeable at first, but then big heavy flakes were swirling in the wind.
The world was transformed. The evening was illumined by the flakes in the
streetlights and that bit of oversteer produced a wonderful rooster-tail of
slush on a hard turn. My mood changed from melancholy to adolescent,
ear-to-ear grinning elation. Yahoo! I took the long way home, with a
parking lot detour. The details are best left to imagination. Somehow she
might even sound better with the noise reverberating off the flakes. It
probably wasn't the last time I'll have her out before her long winter's
nap, but, come February, I'll bet it's the ride I remember.
Phil Vanner
Mk1 Midget.
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