In the Street

You know that feeling when you’ve been working on something for a long time—months, or even years—and you finally roll it out of the garage? That time when the world stands still for just a moment. You take one step back. Then two.

Your hands smell like vulcanized rubber from pushing the left front tire. Your right shoe is scuffed from when you tried to kick that tire back on course. The car is down the driveway. You’re in the street. You crouch down and feel every bit of gravel in your right knee. Out comes the camera. You take one photo.

It’s beautiful. It’s sinister. It sits right. You feel your shoulders relax. You study the details—the things that only you will notice. Others may, and that’s good too. Dark garage has been traded for bright sunlight. Pegboard walls have been swapped for oak trees and white siding. The smell of Kroil and Liquid Wrench and Chem-Dip have dissipated.

You study your work. It’s a lot of things but, above all, it’s yours.

Happy Friday, everyone. Hopefully you can roll your project out to see it in the early summer sun.

—Joey Ukrop

Photo from the H.A.M.B.