Entry · Saturday, October 3, 2026
Airstream Trailer
/AIR-stream TRAY-ler/ n.- 1. A travel trailer of riveted aluminum construction, distinguished by a bullet-shaped fuselage whose rear elevation rounds outward with a confidence that polite engineering literature describes as 'fully developed.'
- 2. colloq. Furniture that drives. Angled into a desert hardpan, she catches the raking light and the light does not complain. The back end is the whole argument.
"They pulled the thiccc Airstream into a Bureau of Land Management flat outside Quartzsite and leveled her on the second try. The rear cap, viewed from any angle, settled the discussion about whether she needed a tow vehicle or the tow vehicle needed her."
From Airstream, the brand founded by Wally Byam in 1931, who reportedly sketched the original teardrop profile on a napkin and then let physics handle the rest; combined with trailer, from Old French trailler, to tow. The teardrop form was aerodynamic in theory. In practice, most of the aerodynamics went to the front half.
Filed by
Filed from Quartzsite at dusk, standing behind her, unable to locate the front of the argument.
Ruling ADMITTED ON APPEAL
Objection stands for the file: the front half is aerodynamic. The rear half is something else. Margie noted that is precisely the point. Complying.
In the margin
Wally Byam sketched the profile on a napkin and then let physics handle the rest. Physics, it turns out, had opinions about the back half.
The leveling on the second try has been filed under Field Operations, Successful, Eventually!