Picture of the day - July 1, 2008

A rusty old abandoned truck

Photo courtesy of Renaude Hatsedakis. When most vehicles have gone their last mile they are taken to a scrap yard where they are crushed and recycled, and the salvaged metal is often used to build a brand new vehicle - sort of a vehicular "circle of life". But in many rural areas it is quite the norm to see abandoned vehicles still sitting just where they were when the engine finally gasped its last breath. When I was growing up in rural southwestern Virginia virtually every farm in our area had an old truck or two sitting out in a field or "resting" under a shed or in a barn, and quite a few of the houses had a rusty old car sitting either in the driveway or somewhere in the yard. They were often kept "for parts", and it was common in those days for the owner to go out looking for another vehicle just like the one that had just "died". The ultimate goal was to find another "junked" car or truck just like theirs that had stopped running for a different reason, buy it, then "rob" parts from one vehicle to get the other one running. With any luck, the non-functional "junker" could be used "for parts" for the one that was "fixed up" for many years to come. These days it is rare indeed to see a rusty old abandoned vehicle sitting around, especially in a place where it can be seen from the highway. But there are still places where they can be found, rusting away, with bushes and trees growing up around them much like weathered headstones in an abandoned cemetery. Most of those old junkers are long past the point where they could be "fixed up", but they serve as wonderfully nostalgic reminders of times past for this old country boy.   Click here to comment on this picture.   Visit the POTD Archives for previous "Pictures Of The Day"!     Submit a photo of your own!                                 Place the "Picture of the Day" on your website, for free! Why I publish the "Picture of the Day"