172,199.8

I justed watched them haul away my old Subaru. After years of procrastinating, I finally called the auto salvage yard to come get it. I damn near cried when they came. I drove that car for eleven and a half years, and loved it almost as much as my old Volkwagen Bus. Near the end, it was rusting away, and the electrical system was going. I only drove it once after I bought my truck. I meant to keep it a while longer as a back up, but I let it go too long between starts, and the next time I tried, the engine didn't catch. For the next four years it just sat in the driveway, acting as an occasional storage facility for me, and as an occasional home for yellowjackets.

I sat in it for a little while this morning, just remembering. One of the singular moments in my life happened in that car, and a lot of lesser moments, as well. I drove to Maine, and DC, and all sorts of places in between. It carried me to a zillion soccer and softball games. Looking back, I should've taken the $100 the dealer offered me for it in trade. I let it sit there in the driveway so long that it gradually sank about two inches into the macadam. Now there are four tire-shaped holes that I need to figure out how to patch.