A wine is described as quaffable, (easy and enjoyable to drink, suitable for being quaffed, drinkable).
Whilst a person is recognised as affable, (friendly and good-natured, agreeable, easy to talk to).
An anecdote is noted as laughable, and an inventor is seen as remarkable.
A challenge may well be doable, but a tragedy is always lamentable!
A wreck maybe driveable, but hopefully disaster is avoidable.
An overhaul maybe manageable, but is it affordable?
Kids certainly can be loveable, and a song maybe unforgettable.
Food can be delectable, and beauty indescribable.
So how does all this relate to Buickful? Or Buickable?
If there is the joy of Buicking can there also be the possibility of Buickable (interpreted as more than doable in your Buick).
Little did David Buick know his name would be stretched and teased in all sorts of distortions. Some memorable, but many lamentable.
Conversation is the means by which we engage with one another. But not all conversing is engaging. Sometimes it’s because our heart is not really in it, at other times we are betrayed by the limitations of our own vocabulary. But always there are new possibilities to engage.
I remember a couple who had grown up worlds apart, in Korea and Australia, but they were brought together by their common love of Italian and it was that language that forged a romance in their hearts that would ultimately lead to wedlock! Barriers were overcome, despite being incredibly challenging.
Automobiles can be triggers for interaction, for new friendships. For me the world of Buicking has been Buickful, rich and engaging. Yes, so many adventures eminently Buickable!
Having recently attended the pre 1931 Autumn Rally in Dubbo, one is reminded just how much cars have changed. In many ways the early decades of automobiles combined a ruggedness and daredevil air, whereby anything was doable. It was the era of amazing feats on land and air, so that even now one can feel the wind in the hair, and the bracing cold, and the grit in the teeth. Whether it be around a race circuit, or overland in the outback of Australia, new records were being set all the time. And Buicks were right up there, proving they were remarkable and unbreakable.
At present my car is off the road, undergoing some needed repairs mainly from my own stupidity. I wish it could have been forgettable, but that was not to be. So, instead, I choose to enjoy a different chapter of Buicking which engages me in fresh ways. It is amazing how many different road-trips one can recount over a decade or two of Buicking. How rich and rewarding has been the journey.
Buicking has also afforded the opportunity to engage in two great pursuits, Q & A, that which is quaffable, with those who are affable. adding colour to our gatherings.
How many memorable meals, with wonderful camaraderie? Some have involved rising very early to attend a breakfast or brunch, others have been more leisurely with a long lunch or dinner, but all have been enjoyable. Fortunately our membership is diverse enough that one can find common interests, even apart from all things mechanical. The ladies more than manage, thank goodness.
Of late, my Mum and I have had pleasant drives down many country lanes in the Hills district of Sydney, with the added bonus of magnificent change of colour with the cold snap in the weather. My Mum is 94 and still lives independently so I feel especially blessed. We have always been a small family, with my Mum being an only child, her Mum an orphan, my Dad only having one sister with one son. Now that my brother and sister have passed away, it’s only myself left to lead the charge. I am thankful that my Mum loves the simple pleasures and is easily pleased, and she still remembers different runs she has done in the past with the Buick Club.
This Column is regularly run by my Mum, who may have had limited formal education but has an amazing breadth of knowledge and love for the English language, having had a dad who loved the classics and had Robert Burns and other Scottish luminaries coursing through his veins. Anyone who met my grandfather, Wallace Macdonald, with his racehorse, Braewarrior, were left in no doubt where his affections lay.
And so many of my childhood memories include adventures with grandpa from fishing on the banks of the Bidgee to driving old Joe (1938 Commer) across the paddocks to playing chess by the fire and urging Rivuka or Braewarrior on at the racetrack.
I like to think that stories can be quaffable as well, especially when the characters are so affable!
It’s only up to us to continue to forge new memories, enjoyable and unforgettable.
Saddo