Up near Mount Pleasant, Michigan, about 20 miles to the west, sits a junkyard that has been there forever. I heard about the place from a teacher at CMU while attending college some years ago. One day, I decided to go scope the place out. It sat on an old dirt road in the middle of nowhere. Ran by an old guy, apparently borderline crazy (aren't they always?), he normally didn't let anybody just wander the yard. He asked what I was looking for, I made reference to a few parts, and he said I could go look around. He then added "Goddamn it, you better not have any tools on you with plans to steal shit!" I assured him, I was just there to look.
What I found was amazing! It was like a time machine for the auto industry. Acres upon acres as far as the eye could see spread amongst the woods and rolling hills. Obviously most were likely beyond repair after decades of sitting in the damp Michigan soil year after year. Yet what you see is breath taking. Cars dating back all the way to the 1930's with the bulk of the collection being 1950's cars, tapering off by the 1960's. I saw almost everything imaginable. Even three late 1960's Dodge pickups like my friend had, a truck I had never seen anywhere else. Not only that, all three were the same teal green color.
The day I went over there I had an appointment with a teacher over a paper I was writing, as my scheduled time slot approached, I realize I wasn't gonna make it. I'd deal with that later, as I was gonna spend a few more hours enjoying this small piece of heaven. I later explained to the teacher, who was well aware of how big of a gearhead I was, and she totally understood. I'm not sure I even made it back to the junkyard, though I'd love to venture back some day with a camera. For some reason I think the crazy guy who runs the place wouldn't be too appreciative if he saw me taking pictures.
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