Farewell good friend...

The below image encapsulates a particularly poignant moment in any man's life...





...the moment when you bid a fond farewell to your first post-college car.



I've posted regarding the "Little Blue Car" before, both in reference to Disney's Animated Short and other adventures pertaining to my 1992 Geo Prizm - but this will be a post that may just bring tears to your eyes along with mine... so be prepared with the tissues.



(That's a joke, by the way. If anyone other than me cries at this... wait, I mean, uh... I'm not crying!)



The blessing of this is that my little car was able to continue on its legacy of being a useful little auto to someone who needed a good little car.

When I bought the car at the end of college, Meghan and I were about to be married and her car was beginning to get suspiciously close to retirement. Since she didn't drive a manual transmission, she got to drive my buick for the next two years while I got the 'new' car. The little blue car had belonged to my Kindergarten teacher at our Lutheran Grade School - and I actually had distinct memories of it when I was in 6th and 8th grades as she would come back to school after a quick lunch at home, bringing the little prizm to a stop in the parking lot outside the classrooms with little fanfare.

We went on our honeymoon in the little blue car. A drive across Michigan's lower Peninsula to a quaint B&B in the rolling southwest corner of the state. The car (eleven years old at the time) got 40 mpg the whole trip!

I drove it through torrential rainstorms as we caravanned to the Seminary in St. Louis.

It took me to my fieldwork church twice each week.

It withstood (without damage) being rear-ended at stoplights on at least two occasions. (Someday we'll talk about St. Louis drivers...)

It drove us back to Michigan for Christmas the year we'd found out that we were going to be parents... and home again after our cat died suddenly while staying at Meghan's parents' house during that same trip.

It was an expert at playing in snowy parking lots - and boldly tackled frosty roads that cars twice its size cowered at.

It has even gone to the races (as a spectator), and chased around a little Russian car for some post-game amusement.

It has carried bikes, children, recycling, luggage, fishtanks, old tires, outdoor furniture, and friends.

It has been criticized, mocked, enjoyed, ticketed (but never for speeding), and marveled at (it still gets better than 35 mpg on a regular basis).



...and it never refused to be exactly what it needed to be.



We could learn a lot about friendship and family loyalty from inanimate objects like a reliable little car.

Why did the mouse cross the road?

Today I was riding in a car (which I was reminded that I'm not especially good at... another thing about my driving situation that kinda makes my wife crazy - and very understandably so)...

Anyhow, (maybe I use parenthesis too much... hey! stop that!)

But we're driving down a major suburban road, having a nice conversation - my eyes never fully leaving the road because of my 'condition' (see previous post) - and there he was!

A mouse, crossing a five-lane road in broad daylight.

...

You really don't know who to root for in that situation.
I mean, on the one hand you've got a small rodent that you know is going to live somewhere that's not a field - there are no fields for fieldmice where we saw this little fella - he's not going to win any sanitation awards.
On the other hand, that's gotta be one of the boldest things I've seen in a while. A mouse? Crossing 5 lanes of traffic? The size/weight ratios here between him and ANY car on that road have to be astronomical!

...

It got me thinking about what it must be like to be that mouse:
Setting out on a journey that everyone expects to be doomed from the start.
Knowing that once you step off the curb you'd better not look back.
Realizing that you've got no other choice... than to run with the odds.

Unfortunately there are a lot of people who are having to live their lives like this. Through no fault of their own, the road is broad in front of them and they've got (at least) five lanes to get across before they come to the other side. Then, you realize, there's another curb to jump.

My prayers are with these people.

...the mouse made it across. With God's help, they can too.


...

What's a garage opener to do?

Before:

• Leave the back door about 2 minutes late.
• Walk to the garage door.
• Twist handle.
• Lift door.
• Get vehicle out of garage.
• Remove self from vehicle.
• Close door.
• Rejoin self with vehicle.
• Depart.

After:

• Leave the back door - simultaniously press garage door opener.
• Get into vehicle.
• Be on your way and simultaniously press garage door opener again.

You'll note the new way is much shorter and involves waaay less strain!


Meghan's Dad and I put that bad-boy garage door opener in today, and it will be awesome!


Tomorrow we commence with the roto-tilling of the backyard for the sake of the the great vision that is to come. I'll post some amazing pictoral diagrams of my mental images of what will be...


Perhaps something like this:

...or perhaps not.

...

My car: As useful as need be.

I am the proud owner of a 1992 Geo Prizm.

...and I say 'proud' without any intended irony. Though I completely understand why you'd expect it to be so. I mean, come on!

But I'll have you know that this little car has continued to toe the line in each and every way that I've asked it to perform over the last 6 years of my ownership.

(aside from the winter when the driver's door wouldn't open, and it's continued penchant for rusting out its side-panels... not to mention the headliner sagging and thereby serving to literally line your head with fabric instead of the car's interior... minor issues, I say!)

And since I've put the bike rack bars on the roof, the possibilities have become downright endless!

For instance, observe what we brought home last night!

I actually was a little insulted by the employee at Home Depot who helped me put it on the rack. I had expected him to think me a bit crazy for attempting this - by all appearances I, and all the people who stopped and stared at me on the drive home, would agree. However, he kinda got under my skin when he continued to criticize my judgement rather than making helpful suggestions regarding the alternatives for getting the $200 worth of merchandise that I just purchased at his store safely home.

What he didn't realize is that I come from a proud and long-standing line of tie-down and packing experts, and what's more, I married into a family of practical MacGyvers when it comes to making mechanical things functional! By the time I'd finished lashing that baby down, I could've rolled the car over by pushing on the unmoving cardboard box!

The gliding loveseat is now safely in position at home, providing a spot of respite for those who will watch our backyard transform this spring/summer into a magical land of relaxation.

More on that as things progress...

...

The little blue car...

Disney had a cartoon that I absolutely loved when I was a kid. It was called,

"Susie the little Blue Coupe"

If you've got about 8 minutes to spare, here's a YouTube of the whole cartoon...

It fascinated me that a little car could not only have emotion, but be so resilient while going through so much in a lifetime.
And now I've got a little blue car of my own - and its doing pretty well too.


Well, sort of.
I've actually had two blue coupes that have proved very faithful and true - although the Buick wasn't exactly "little", and neither one has been a "coupe"...
Regardless, both have served me faithfully well after they were old enough to have their own driver's licenses. My 1988 Park Avenue lasted us until 2005, and is still going somewhere as far as I know; and my current lil' beauty, a 1992 Geo Prizm, is what's sitting in the parking lot right now. In fact, she's still young at heart...

That's the actual odometer reading! (And no, there isn't a hidden '1' in front)

Unfortunately, cars don't last forever. But that doesn't mean that we don't wish they did!

Its easy to get comfortable with things that we use and appreciate on a daily basis. Even if those things are made of metal or wood, plastic or rubber... we wish that there wasn't such a thing as decay... oh, if there weren't such a thing as rust... if only things would retain their 'snap' and their edge wouldn't dull...

But that's what happens in our world, and though its a testimony to what mankind experiences - this cycle of aging and renewal - that never really makes it seem 'right' either.

And that's because we weren't meant to live in such a way.
We were meant to be eternally young and vibrant.
We were meant to live forever...

...and the good news is that, though the car will continue to rust and even 'Susie' the blue coupe will end up junked for good, we have a promise from God that we WILL have a real renewal. In the forgiving of our sins and guilt from this life, Jesus saw to it that our eternity will be one without any fading, sickness, sadness or death.

...now what is yet to be revealed is whether or not I'll need a new car when I get there.


...