end of a red era?

status check - nostalgic - and silly
background ambiance - same old, same old

regardless of which car i buy on wednesday, the fact remains that i am saying preparing to say goodbye to my first and ever-faithful green car named red. i'm feeling almost traitorous as i think about it now - while i'm testing out a snazzy red mid-sized suv, my little green plastic car is sitting in a parking lot at a dealership, waiting for me to return and take him for another spin. little does he know that he'll likely soon be heading to that dealership in the sky.

it might be considered overdramatic to get nostalgic about a car, but let's face it. i've been called overly dramatic before and surely will be called the same thing in the future - for once, it's just not about some band or song. furthermore, find me one person who doesn't look back fondly on their first car - and try to tell me you didn't get the least bit sentimental when the time came to give it up and move on.

i bought it just over three years ago and have since nearly doubled the mileage it handled in the previous nine years it roamed the highways. my first important car decision was what song to play in the discman/car sterio hookup i'd purchased the day before (for those curious minds, it was howie day's "after you" from the 6.18.01 paradise recording. i know, big surprise.). my first solo trip in the car was to the sound barrier, where i picked up an eqx bumper sticker (fell off ages ago) and a round dmb dancing nancies decal (still at the top of my back window).

i've had the fuzzy dice, the mardi gras beads, the strawberry shortcake air freshener. on my 21st birthday, red was covered with printed signs with embarrassing moments in my college history. for two years, surfer bob caught wave after wave on my back dash.

i sat in red's passenger seat two years ago, crying my eyes out as i left st. michael's on graduation day. i watched dc fade into the distance as i headed back to vermont and steered the car up to burlington for the start of my new career. i swear it could drive itself to boston and from the driver's seat, i determined that exist 37 on 93 south is the earliest you can glimpse the boston skyline. i drove it through the city, i drove it through the country. it survived summer and snow, hail and this summer's freak monsoon-like downpours. it even survived the parking lot behind my first burlington apartment (although it did wind up a little worse for the wear) and the oppressive heat of gridlock traffic in saratoga springs before a dave matthews show.

this car has just fucking ruled and i almost wish i didn't have to give it up. can we just bronze it and store it somewhere, funny back bumper, engine indicator light, tempremental drivers window and all?

driving in my car, a live jason mraz show keeping me energized, i realized that i was happy. the cool night was hinting at the autumn to come and i was happily cozy in a fleece, the window slightly cracked so the breeze was on my face while the heater kept the rest of me warm. the night sky was clear while the lack of streetlights allowed the stars to spread out above and in front of me. i was singing along with the music, a hot cup of coffee in my hand, having just left a campfire, great friends and hugs. an assignment was waiting for me at home, the information there and the framework of the story already written ...