Battle Scars

Before I move forward, like many things in life, it is important to take a few steps back, address the wounds of battle, learn from the mistakes and move ahead stronger than ever. No, we weren't victims of gun battle or a surprise attack in the middle of the night, it was a powerful storm with a sweet name that pushed through our neighborhood with the fury of a thousand angry, over-caffeinated warriors. While we live an hour north of Manhattan about a hundred yards east of the Hudson River (directly across from West Point, the sight of a mighty battle), Irene seemed to find strength as she powered her way north. Trees came down, streets flooded and power was out for a week, but thankfully no lives were lost in our area. Louis, however, wasn't as lucky. Days after Irene left town, I discovered a tree had fallen on his streetside, forcing the front skins to burst in the middle like Louis spitting out a blast of angry curse words. Strangely enough, I believe the solid structure of the refrigerator helped keep the wall from totally collapsing, with the pressure breaking the front streetside window and the frame around the emergency window in the back, on the streetside. While I was able to get his essential parts back in order (the side skin was actually easy to manipulate back into place), the water damage was so extensive it looks like I'm going to have to do a total rebuild. So, after my last camp of the season this weekend (or maybe I'll squeak a few more in before the snow falls) I will be looking for a nice dry spot to rest Louis while I take him apart and reassemble him bit by bit. Instead of feeling an overwhelming sense of defeat, I've decided to look at my first mini-restoration of Louis as a good dry run (pun intended), and the next will be even better. Initially I thought of buying another Scotty (which I don't doubt will happen in the near future) and using Louis as a stationary office on our property, but the more I thought of it that felt like a cop out. I love the HiLander. I love its lines, I love the division of space, I love the Scotty Potty and I love the way I felt the first time I towed him home. To abandon him now and keep him from hitting the wide open road to adventure feels like keeping a racehorse in a playpin, so I will take my time over the winter months to make sure he's perfect once again...just like the day he rolled out of the Serro Scotty factory. Bumps in the road are inevitable, it's the way we maneuver through and around them that matters most!