End of Days

SEPTEMBER 4, 2021

Every year, right around this time, I’m transported back 20-something years to those final, expectant weeks of August as a kid. A summer wound down into days of monotony by that point, and simple joys of teenagehood on endless shuffle – drives with friends with no destination in mind, weekdays at the beach with the Top 40 on repeat, and humid nights spent kicking it in the town parking lots before cops cruised by with an encouraging flash of lights to head home. We were a week or two off from summer's end - hopeful and melancholic at the same time, but filled with excitement at the start of something new when that first day of school began.

Alas those doldrum days of anticipation are well behind me, and I don’t think I’ve had a taste of true summer vacation for upwards of 15 years now (damn that’s tough to write!!). Yet even if fleeting, I do get a small sense of that relaxed excitement every so often at our local car meets, particularly in July and August. They're never as crowded as the ones in the winter and spring seem to be, with many of the usual suspects out of town visiting family or friends or taking that long-postponed vacation to a faraway place. As much as I love the chaotic energy of big meets with “one-of-ones” and people crowding around the Concours winners for IG story vids, there’s something to be said for simpler moments of calm chats over a coffee in the late summer heat.

This month’s Heritage Gruppe Drivers Meet was one I had to watch from afar while on vacation but it had all the hallmarks of a chill, friend-filled morning. Some awesome cars were in attendance, including a fleet of classic BMWs.