When the heart beats faster for a moment
02/25/2026
Oh, that sounds like the big story, but it's not. If anyone was expecting that, I apologize. It's just a little - big story. It's actually just a description of a moment. Or maybe it's just the question of whether others feel the same way as I do when I slowly get back into gear after "hibernation" and feel like starting a car again for the first time after a long break.
I've often thought that the anticipation was greater as a child than it is today. It may be because you don't have to ask yourself too many questions as a child. Things happen and sometimes they only happen for you. With tunnels, for example, I was firmly convinced that they were built for people to make driving more exciting. We always dug a tunnel through the mountain in the sandpit for the same reason: it was simply more interesting to drive our little toy car - which we might later lose in the sand - over the sand mountain landscape we had built ourselves.
Opening of the San Bernadino tunnel in 1967. No, it wasn't built for fun, as I thought as a child...
Picture: ETH e-pics
But where was I? That's right: the anticipation and the changed perception of it as you get older. Well, that's not the case with cars, where it's the same every time before the first start. Perhaps there is also a bit of excitement as to whether the car will start at all. This is particularly pronounced in one "piece" from my collection - a British car with a jumping cat on the side of the mudguards.
But when you have installed yourself in the seat, turn the key, the indicator lights light up and the pointer of the fuel gauge slowly moves upwards, my pulse also increases. A wonderful feeling of inner restlessness! The first ignitions then follow like a release from this tension. Breathing starts again and as the heart rate curve flattens out again, the engine slowly picks up the throttle and the first light clouds from the exhaust pipes disappear. If this is the case, all is well, spring can come, the basic requirements have been met. This also applies if, shortly afterwards, you remember what maintenance work you put off until spring when winterizing. But now it's high time...
