Moving me down the highway

Interesting how one's perspective on the most mundane things can change depending on the circumstances or their experience.

I drive a 1983 Volvo 240 Sedan. It defines P.O.S. The clearcoat is patchy, the maroon paint is faded down to white on the roof and hood. It has a rather gory battle scar on it's left quarter. It even sounds old and crotchety due to a broken exhaust pipe, not unlike a small aircraft. I have to turn up the radio to nearly full volume to hear it over the engine and my kids and I have to yell at each other to hear conversation. It's a manual transmission and missing an engine mount, so it lurches every time I change gears. I love the damned thing. I want a new one, but I love it.

My previous car was a 1992 Toyota Camry, V6 XLE, fully loaded, great stereo, sunroof, power everything. She was by no means perfect, but I loved her too. She was powerful, fast, comfortable, stylish--by comparison, far superior to my father-in-law's newer Camry, which was a base four cylinder. On the rare occasions that I had to use his for any reason when I still owned my V6, I would turn up my nose at its lack of power and grumble about the whininess of its engine. Bah!

Unfortunately, my mother-in-law totaled my beloved Toyota, so it is now probably scrap metal somewhere in Georgia. It had gotten battered over time by wounds inflicted by others--a car door (opened while I was passing), a projectile (16 oz. glass soda bottle thrown at my windshield while someone else was passing) and falling objects (four inch diameter tree on rear quarter). Until its last day, that car had more happen to it while parked than while driving.

Alright, so today I had to run an errand and borrowed my father-in-law's Camry. Aside from the learning curve that has to be reestablished everytime I get into a vehicle with an automatic transmission, i.e. no left foot or right hand action required, I was surprised by how the damned thing felt! It was smooth! It was powerful! I wanted it! Okay, maybe not it, but something like it...

Am I being unfaithful to my trusty beast? No. I still love it, and I'm not giving it up just yet. It needs some work, that's for sure, but it's a Volvo and with the proper respect, it'll run forever and keep me safer than most other cars on the road. I'm not sure who said it, but I love the quote, "If the grass looks greener on the other side of the fence, it's time to start watering your own."

Yes, of course, life is all about comparisons. Grass being greener, elusive ends of rainbows, 42. Contentment and gratitude are key, because when you love what you have, you can appreciate rather than covet that which you don't.