Who’s gonna drive you home. Tonight?
Drive – The Cars
I bought a car. While this might not seem like a monumental event in most of your lives; in mine – this is colossal.
There was a point in my life when I loved to drive – I grew my hair out, so it could be pulled up on top my head (i.e. convertible hair), bought a rag top and never looked back. Putting that roof down bought me the freedom I had always craved. But when I moved to New York City in 2005, I left my silver mustang, along with my love of cruising the open road, in California. I gave up driving for walking the city blocks, navigating the subway system and hailing cabs. And somewhere along the way, I let my license expire (yes – very short-sighted, but I had designed my life to be walkable and thought this was always going to be the case.). As I traveled the world, I preferred to explore new cities on foot or jump into the back of a tuk tuk. (Fact: When a tuk tuk picked you up at the airport, it was guaranteed to be the start of a good experience). Returning to the states, I was too damaged to dress myself let alone drive. I had a strong lattice of family, friends and resources – all of whom went out of their way to get me where I needed to be, keep me company, support me so the only thing I needed to worry, think about, deal with…was healing.
I woke up one day…those feelings of freedom and independence bubbling up inside me I knew a driver’s license would be a good step to get me what I craved. After some simple research, it was determined that my license had not been expired THAT long. December 2019 – About $75 being handed over to the woman behind the counter at the local messenger service got me a valid driver’s license. Crazy – right?
I knew I would wait until Spring to buy a car. What I didn’t expect was to have to buy a car in the middle of a pandemic……. (random picture – MM and I took a tour of the temples and rice fields in a rented convertible – Ubud, September 2018)
