Green Car

Happy Birthday, G’een Car!

Well, sort of. Almost thirteen years after we bought it, my car hit 100,000 miles today.

Note the green aura in the picture???

I’m a firm believer in naming cars according to their personalities. I LOVE my Subaru Legacy station wagon, but it seems to have chosen the uninspiring name of “Green Car.” (It also has never revealed its sex, but that’s another story.) Of course, both kids have grown up riding in the Green Car, so hearing them say, “There’s the G’een Car!” triumphantly in a huge, overheated parking lot has made my day more than once.

And the color is a huge factor in Green Car’s personality. It’s pretty obvious that I favor cool colors in just about everything, so I love my cool shade of car. And it’s a little offbeat in terms of color (although why we all mostly end up with tan, silver, white, and black cars is a mystery to me). But being different suits me just fine.

Like me, Green Car is very practical—runs great, holds huge amounts of Girl Scout cookies, manages dogs and kids, brings home Christmas trees and building supplies. It doesn’t take up a lot of space, either. And, like me, Green Car is a lot more fun than you’d think. It hugs the road and corners beautifully. I love it!

In the course of its adventures, including moving down from Nashville with us and taking the auto train north, Green Car has gotten—well, broken in. There’s the chlorine stain under the mat in the back, for one. And then there’s the way the speakers on one side stopped working for a couple of years, then magically started again. There are a few dents, but, like Mater, “I don't fix these. I wanna remember these dents forever.” They all came in the line of duty, during countless trips to school and some fantastic road trips.

Both our children rode home for the first time in the Green Car, albeit very differently. When S. was born, we drove home 10 mph UNDER the posted speed limit, on back roads all the way, with me in the back seat and Big A. constantly asking me, “Is she okay?” On the other hand, Little A. rode home, sound asleep, on the interstate, in a blinding rain storm, with his dad and I in the front seat, frantically trying to fit a complete conversation in before we got home to the three-year-old. Parenting in a nutshell, huh?

I’m eternally grateful to my husband for letting me choose the car I’d end up driving so much. Not many tangible possessions fit me so well. To completely water down a quote from Dark Angel, it’s like Max says, “It’s an extension of my soul, if there is such a thing.”

Of course, she was a genetically enhanced killing machine trapped in the body of, well, Jessica Alba, talking about her uber-fast motorcycle, but you get my drift.

Congratulations on 100,000 miles, Green Car!