Feathers & Fenders: Seamless
A few days ago my daughter asked me to write about the connection between the white headed robin and the muscle cars which were featured in the post on BEAUTY I am satisfied that there are many ties of relationship between the rare bird and the hand built single purpose hot rods.
It is obvious that the living bird as well as the Mustang, a product of the metal/machine shop, are both born of the earth. We’ve glimpsed the mating ritual of robins in early spring, observed their nest-building shortly afterward, and then heard the baby birds voices calling for nourishment from close at hand parents. It is obvious that all of this is a manifestation of a living earth. All that the birds need, they find by following instinct.
When I think about it the steel of the fenders of the red mustang began as iron ore in a mine somewhere in this earth. Dug by machines designed by humans, transported in giant ore transporter trucks, then by train, the ore arrives at the refinery. The ore is combined with other materials according to knowledge developed since the early iron age, and by addition of fire and oxygen is transformed into a sheet of steel. And that is what the guys in the shop work with to fashion a fender precisely shaped to the concept of the Mustang under fabrication. Just like a baby robin, the work takes time. The result is exquisite.
The vehicle is an object that perfectly marries form and function. So is the white headed robin. That is why I admire both of them.
Yet, a note of sadness rises within me when I view the red Mustang. The hot rod is out of time, something that has come too late. The muscle car age is over. We are on the cusp of entering the time of Electrics. Traffic laws have changed a lot, and so has enforcement since I was a high school kid a life time ago. No one is going to turn the red Mustang loose on a dark country road at night, watching the tach and the speedometer needle arc to the right. Given the capabilities of that car, if apprehended, you’d probably have the Mustang impounded, and then you’d be taken away in the police car.
I doubt that the officer would give you a lecture and then follow you home to assure your safety.
2 thoughts on “Feathers & Fenders: Seamless”
Love this Dad, thanks for expanding on the white headed robin and the mustang. So maybe the true definition of beauty is all experiences and things that “perfectly marry form and function”.
I’d buy that definition. I think that Nature has many examples. Much great art is an artist’s expression of Nature.