TIGHT LINES
WORKIN' AT THE CARWASH
with Andrew Spencer
During the past few weeks, there's been a coating of sorts on my car, a kind of yellow film of heaven sent dust that has blanketed everything that it comes in contact with. I did a little investigative work of my own and found, compliments of my own dear, sweet mother, that the source of this offensive plague is pine trees. Apparently the yellow stuff is actually pine pollen. And, as you all well know, my mother is always right, so I kind of let it go.

But then I got to thinking about it, and you people know that's always a dangerous thing. I started thinking and I started researching, and I found out that pollen is actually a powder composed of something called microgametophytes, which is a big word that means "small pollen grains." And what hurts even more is the knowledge that some really smart person no doubt got a building named after him for coming up with that bit of wisdom. So anyway, these clouds of microgametophytes fly around between the stamens of one flower to the pistils of another flower, with a lengthy side-trip to visit their relations covering every conceivable square inch of my car.

PHOTO BY JILL SANDOLE Don't look up, Andrew, that pine tree's ready to blow.

And it seems that this substance has a purpose beyond irritating me and discoloring my car. Apparently this is also how flowers make baby flowers and trees make baby trees, and I didn't even have to take Captain Tom's sex ed class to learn that one. Now I'll be the first to admit that what the flowers and trees of the world choose to do in the privacy of their own homes is certainly none of my business. But when they choose to bring it to my house, to my driveway and, most importantly, to the surface of my car (and, just to add insult to injury, in the open windows of my car), then I'm getting involved. And that's just what I did.

That's right. I washed my car.

It wouldn't have been such an issue if my car were yellow, as then the pollen would have moreor less blended in. It's kind of like my mother's theory about dogs. She wants a dog that's dirt-colored so it won't show the dirt quite so much. But she's got a golden retriever and I've got a red car. Dirt shows up pretty clearly on the dog and pollen shows up pretty clearly on the car. So I brushed and soaped and rinsed and dried. And lo and behold, when I'd finished, the previously red car with the yellow film all over it was now a red car sans any yellow film.

Now you might think that having the outside of the car clean was enough. Ordinarily, I'd say you were right. Especially if it weren't actually my own car we were talking about. But this one's mine, for better or worse, so just keeping the outside clean doesn't quite do it. I'm also pretty much a stickler for making sure the parts under the hood are clean and working properly, too. That's why I take my car out to Chris Witte and let him do what he does best whenever it starts making funny noises or acting strangely. I trust him to do what needs to be done because, unlike me, he actually knows what he's doing when he looks at a car engine. I just kind of stare at it and scratch my head a little, but Chris actually knows what these things all do and how they're supposed to work and how to actually fix them. And he keeps that car humming along like it's new.

And you know what? The same thing is true about fishing reels.

You might not ever get rich, but let me tell ya' it's better than diggin' a ditch. There ain't no tellin'who you might meet - a movie star or maybe an Indian chie f- workin' at the segue wash.

Friends and neighbors, I've been cleaning a lot of reels lately, a lot of reels that needed it badly. The problem is, though, you can't just look at the reel to see if it's in desperate need of cleaning on the inside. Nope. You've got to open it up in order to see what's going on in there and how much cleaning is called for. And the truth is, I've seen plenty of reels that look almost new on the outside but that look like something you wouldn't wish on your worst enemy on the inside.

Think of your reel a lot like you might think of your car. You can use it - even abuse it - and it'll still keep going, so long as you take care of it. Rinse it out with fresh water every time you use it. That's a good start. But if you find that it's not reeling quite as well as you'd like it to - maybe it sticks a little, or you find that you're getting some resistance to reeling - do the same thing you'd do with your car. Take it to someone who knows more about it than you do and let them clean it out and properly lubricate it for you. There's moving parts inside that thing that need to be cleaned and greased at least once a year. Try it. You'll be amazed at how much better it works. And trust me when I tell you that it's well worth whatever small amount they might charge you. Just like getting the oil in your car changed.

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go. I'm working on cleaning out the garage so I can fit my car in there. I've got to get it done before the cranberries start doing their thing. Pine trees have got nothing on those things when it comes to pollen.

Tight lines. I