I'm Two Timin Ya Red Bird

My Pathfinder has started to feel a thousand times more comfortable. And what's wrong with SUVs - huh? What if you ACTUALLY have a lot of cargo...what's a girl to do? Bikes, kids, crap, cats....dogs. Dog actually. A 15 year old dog that shits himself silly just looking at the car. The vet comes to us now. He has never been a car dog. He drools long streams of spit, and smacks his toothless gums together and shifts from foot to foot nervously when he sees the "towel" come out that we normally put in the back. And the cats have not seen the inside of a car since their harrowing drive home from the Humane Society. Ok, so maybe I am reaching. But as we get closer to October and the "turning in" of our reliable, comfy, BIG car I am gettin a little, well, nervous. I mean, 7 seats, CD player, DOOR PANELS - hell, it even has seat belts. I said casually to CJ the other night while pretending to root around in the fridge "so, I, uh, park next to that new Jetta wagon at the office. It is cool looking." He says nothing. "It's the diesal." He looks up. "Oh yeah?" He smiles. I know what he is thinking. The beamer is mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! I can lower, raise it, put big tires on it, small tires on it, make it sound really, really LOUD. Maybe he wasn't really thinking any of that - but I think I am pretty close, I know how this boy thinks. I have to take a running start to get in his truck, and the other day he announces he needs new tires. And he might get "bigger ones." Jesus, we might as well move back to Petaluma. So, I digress. This is another story. But, I admit it. I have been eyeing "other" cars. Checking out the competition. I worry. A lot. I know I will lay in bed worrying the car won't start the morning I have a meeting I cannot miss. But Red Bird was a family car. It carried kids around just fine. I made it through my childhood in a Datsun 510, rolled down the windows and waited patiently for my mom to unlock her door with the actual key, get in and reach back and unlock mine. We are not better people for being able to get somewhere seamlessly because the pretty electronic voice in the car is telling us (in just the right amount of time I might add) where to turn, left, right and "destination on the right!" It is just so darn convenient! But we have mapquest. I can think ahead. Don't worry Red Bird. We're never gonna let you go.