The engine started with a large growl, loud enough to likely wake the
neighbors before idling into a less offensive, steady hum, but still
strong enough to scare away squirrels and birds looking for an early
morning meal.
My older brother and I would carefully slide off
the sidewalk to the blue Ford Econoline van as it guzzled down gas,
desperately trying to heat the cab amid frigid temperatures. That was a
typical morning growing up as a son of an electrical contractor in
Southeast Michigan during the 1980s.