Travels of the Fury

I'm pretty sure I've mentioned this a time or two before, but Nathaniel is the heir apparent for the Fury. He's just 13 1/2, but he is definitely carrying on the Orthmann tradition of (physically) maturing early. He's already as tall as I am and I expect that he'll continue to grow. I always planned to teach him how to drive at a young age. He's not as eager as I was at that age, which is certainly his personality, but he's proven to be more than capable behind the wheel of a motor vehicle.



Living in a rural farming community gives us ample time and places to practice. I hope that by the time he turns 16 he'll be quite accomplished and driving won't be a scary thing for him (although I'm sure it will still be a scary proposition for his poor mother )

 

It isn't necessarily going to be his actions, but the actions of the dunderheads around him, that your wife will be rightly worried about. But as long as his training behind the wheel deals with incoming emergencies, and being 'situationally aware' through use of the mirrors, adjusting said mirrors to give the broadest picture, and him keeping his head 'on a swivel,' will go a long way to avoiding accidents. In all my years behind the wheel, my dad, and his brother, my uncle the CHP/ISP officer, gave me the best instruction about driving.

 

I have to laugh Jeremiah. I remember the hours my dad used to spend with me at the local target, and Venture store, for those that remember on Sundays, they used to be closed then. Driving the lot, and practicing parking. By the time I was 16 I had logged a lot of time behind the wheel. I sure have fond memories of those Sunday afternoons. Again your boys will look back and thank you for the time you have dedicated to them. You have some great kids, and you’re building great memories!

 

You're right Andrew. The idea is that he'll be more prepared to take on those situations when the time comes, just as Bill mentioned. Experience is the best teacher.
I am hoping these will be good memories for the boys, I know they will be good ones for me. As always I appreciate your kind words.

 

folks at our age did the same thing with our dads. its how we learned . good job dad

 

Got the Fury all winterized and tucked into the garage. Probably that last time it moves until spring.

 

nice

 

Don’t her side look pretty?

 

Yessir!

 

A little late to the party, but...

I'm sure he'll come around a bit more as he gets older. That last year before legal driving age has a way to light of fire under one's butt with the freedoms and opportunities being able to drive provides. I'd be willing to wager a bet he might be a little more eager about driving in another two years! But yeah, Nathaniel certainly is a big guy for his age! I was always small for my age as a kid, but eventually I caught up. lol But I think that's great you're passing on the tradition and doing those things with your kids. They'll thank you for it later in life, I assure you.

 

Never too late my friend.
I think you are probably right. As things change and freedom comes calling, he'll probably become a lot more eager to get some more seat time.

 

I’m happy to say that after beginning our project my college age daughter was the first to was it, the first to ask to learn to drive it and the first to ask that her name be added to the title…

 

That's awesome.

 

Kids today don’t know what they’re missing. We used to slide and bounce around in the “back back” and encourage mom to drive faster thru those tight corners!

 

I wish I had received a better training experience when I learned to drive. My dad didn't see inclined to go out with me on the weekends, when he was off, so it was my step mother who had the task. She took me to the big empty parking lot where she worked, and we pretended the parking rows were the streets. Then she yells out "STOP", so I roll up to the end of the aisle and stop. She then tells me that her yelling was supposed to represent a kid coming out from behind a parked car. (Might have been nice to know you were going to do that sometime, in advance....) And this is just one example of the hard time I had with her. I could control the car fine, and I also had Driver's Training during the summer months at my high school.

Passed everything on my first try in October, 1967.