it's not new, it's blue, and it begins and ends with "c"

A couple of days after Christmas my trusty, beloved, old 1995 Honda Civic was stolen from the parking lot at the movie theatre where our son works. We reported the theft to the police, who said most stolen cars are discovered abandoned within a week of their loss. Our car has not turned up. Maybe it's just so ordinary looking that wherever it has been parked, nobody has noticed that it's been sitting for a month, untouched. Maybe something more dramatic has happened to it. Perhaps it's at the bottom of a lake (I hope not, that would not be good for the lake or the things that live in it). Maybe it was lit on fire or pushed off a cliff (I hope not, it's a good little car). Maybe somebody drove it to Ontario or Newfoundland. At this point, all I can hope is that nobody was harmed in it, and that it's not harming anyone or anything.

I have decided that the car was stolen for a reason. I think that small bad things happen to put us out of the way of worse bad things. Perhaps Fiona was meant to be driven around by Andy, Alex and me while she was home at Christmas. ICBC gave me a rental car, you see, but Fiona wasn't allowed to drive it because she's not yet 19 years old. It wasn't a lot of trouble for us to drive her around. We got more time with her, taking her to work and friends' places. We'll never know for sure if my hunch is right, but that's okay.

So Andy and I went car shopping, and Alex helped. Mom and Dad helped too, and now I have a new-to-me Honda Civic. My must-have list was: 4 doors, automatic transmission, electronic mirror adjustment (Alex and I move the mirrors whenever we get into the car), air conditioning (the only thing not perfect about my old Honda) and no smokey smell inside. I got everything on my list and more. So now I have a 2008 Civic, with about a gazillion airbags, and fancy wheels and a sunroof, and brand new tires and keyless entry and an immobilizer (so nobody will steal it from anywhere), and a plug-in for my iPod. I never dreamed I would have a car as lovely as this. Best of all, it's BLUE (just like my old one). Everything inside the engine and the interior of the car is updated by a couple of generations, but it feels like my old car in some reassuring ways: the lights and wipers are pretty much in the same place as in my old car. The new engine sounds something like my old one, well, not exactly, but I think it shifts gears at about the same revs. Even the windows sound the same, opening and closing although the switches feel different.

Alex and Andy have driven it and say it's a NICE CAR. I am grateful for all of the help that I have received in shopping and purchasing. I got good advice from my friends about insurance, autobody condition, and mechanical condition. Mom and Dad helped for sure - Thank you! and Andy and Alex both said, "It's going to be your car. Whatever you want, you go get it." I think it's the first time I've actually bought a car and been the one to make the decision. I think I made a good one.

So look out for me tooting along in my new little blue car. If you need a ride anywhere, just let me know.

question: what's on your must-have list?

mompoet - traveling with gratitude