The legend of Lee Jones

When James was still in high school, one of Ryan's friends gave him a 1996 Honda Accord with over two hundred fifty thousand miles on it.

Well, what actually happened is they abandoned the car in a parking lot, gave Ryan the title and said, "If your brother wants it he can have it." 

At that time, James and I were sharing my car, so in fact, he did want it. The Buxton men drove out to the parking lot and retrieved. Then Seth - who is a pretty good shade tree mechanic - determined that although the body of the car was in terrible condition, the engine was fine. He installed new brakes, we bought new tires and James has been driving that car ever since.

The car is named Lee Jones. She is a terrible car. Almost all her parts - except for those which actually propel her down the road - are broken. The AC is broken, the windows don't roll up and down, there's no longer a handle on the inside driver's door. The last time James took her through emissions - she passed, never a doubt - the worker got into her, looked at James and asked, "If I close the door, am I going to be able to get out?" That's the kind of car she is.

And somehow, she keeps going and going and going.

One time when James was still in high school, he left her unlocked - easy to do since most of her locks don't work - and running in the parking lot for two class periods. No one stole her.

She's a terrible car, we didn't think anyone would ever steal her, but that's exactly what happened on Monday.

I was driving home from the barn, when James called to let me know. He almost never calls, so I automatically assumed that something bad had happened. Despite that, it took me a while to comprehend what he was telling me. He'd gone to work and when he clocked out, his car was missing from the parking lot.

"Who would steal Lee Jones?"

More to the point, who would steal Lee Jones, a car without air conditioning or working windows on a day when temperatures topped one hundred degrees.

We never saw it coming.

We filed the police report. Then it became a waiting game. We assumed the car was nearby. There's just no way anyone would drive it very far considering the weather and its condition. The real question, of course, was whether or not she would still be operational when she was found.

We didn't have to wait too long. The police called today to let us know they'd found Lee Jones. She was a couple miles north east of here, parked on a residential street with the driver's window forced down. She looked no worse than she usually looks.

James got in and she fired right up. Never a doubt. It's Lee Jones.

The rear license plate had been removed,

but when we popped the trunk, there it was. 

A jack, some tools and a few other items were missing, but overall, this story ends on a good note.

Long live, Lee Jones!