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It was a triple-cubic moment that did it! Somehow, I've reached the 3 X 3 X 3 = 27 years of photo leather and rubber seasonal cards! The occasion seemed to require something special. Unfortunately, Snapfish makes custom photo cards too simple to pass up! Instead of single photos, I ended up executing three 5 X 7 folded cards with four to seven perfectly posed portraits. Alright, 4 - 7 pictures!
It all started on eBay, when a cart racer in England offered his mud-spattered but classic Aviakit in flaming red, highly experienced leather. It took two treatments of Leatherique, besides zipper and velcro replacements to unleash the fine old character of the suit.
The Lewis Leathers suit soon joined me on two road trips. The first photo was made on a cloudy day in Opelika, Alabama while I was visiting high school buddies. In the first photo, Banjo Bill and I doing our best to look serious. But follow the link for a lighter mood.
The next month, I rode even further North, but the weather was better. This photo was taken alongside the Miami River, near Dayton, Ohio. On this and most remaining photos, the link is of a larger and sometimes more inclusive view of the same image. |
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A hotel clerk enjoying a break from her duties offered to take the next photos. I did move the trike to take advantage of their little "park" overlooking the river's levee. Even though unlined, this is definitely a cool weather suit: It warmed up fast in the sun!
One last view on the banks of the Miami. We've heard of folks standing tall in the saddle, but how many have knelt in it? |
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After that extensive road testing, and the passage of summer, it was once again good leather weather. Of course, I used that first opportunity suit up in red leather. This photo actually made the third page of the card! The caption was "Another Red Rubber Christmas and very Happy New Years' Wishes". Oops, well, we needed a good typo!
This photo also highlights some of the suit's curious details. They don't seem to be repairs, but a part of the original design. What old bike models would have necessitated reinforcing the right inseam?
The Leather card actually featured the pose at the right on its front fold. Once in a while, we do throw in an unexpected pose vantage point! |
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One last pose amidst the Chinese Bamboo. Snapfish only allows a thumbnail-sized photo on the fourth side of the card, but you get to see it full size! The caption for this photo was . . .
"Let's Hear it for Red, Yellow and Green, good Primary Christmas Colors!" |
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The Pleather Card
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Let me see, there's leather and then there's rubber and we haven't done a Lycra Christmas card. Nah, not this year -- too airish! But, howasbout pleather? Another strange eBay find, an anatomically exuberant catsuit of "leather look," PVC-coated fabric. Most folks call it Pleather. Here's a non-card bonus to give you an idea of what's coming. It appears that I was inspecting the newly-reengineered Skeletal Stream.
That same trip to Ohio last spring, a co-worker sent me to a huge Antique Mall. He shouldn't have done that, 'cause I didn't leave until I had taken a host of iron, bronze and stone men hostage! One was a 52-inch tall reproduction of the nineteenth-century bronze, Arab on Horseback by Frenchman Antoine Louis Barye. Well, he's in the bronze protection program going by the name "Horseman" and seems to invite company. Horseman's pretty well got a corner on the West end of my front porch. |
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The second photo, I'm saying in the caption, The Heartiest of Christmas Wishes and
Hopes for an Awesome New Year
are on their way to Your Place!"
In the next photo, the third on the card, he's replying,
Merry Christmas!
Even Happier New Year ! !
Pleather Best Wishes ! ! ! |
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All of this time, my metal Mexican import, the painted tin man Julio, was fuming on his end of my front porch! We finally shook hands after amicable relations were restored.
Julio did demand his own page on the card, and the wording is his responsibility, too. Julio Demands . . .
That you be reminded that
He shares my front Porch with Horseman. Goodness, I never knew Pleather could cause such a ruckus! |
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