Cars I've Driven - Little Pieces of Freedom

Sometimes I drive topless ;)

I haven't driven a plethora of cars, but each one I've had have all afforded me a little piece of freedom.  


I know that might sound a bit ridiculous and that freedom is a state of mind and all, but when I am without a vehicle, I get a bit wiggy.  I really was able to identify it this summer after the breaks on my car broke and I spent 4 days without a car and had to rely on others for transport to a fro.  Environmentally speaking, this post is not eco-friendly in the least.  I prefer to guzzle gas on my own that be forced into a carpooling situation.  There may be a touch of selfishness to it.


Growing up in the Gatineau Hills meant that everywhere we went, we drove.  There was no public transportation.  When you're a kid, this is mostly fine except on snow days when you want to go to Suzy's but the Chevette couldn't get out of the driveway until the plow went by and even then, it wasn't the safest day to drive, so you had to stay home and amuse yourself.  When I was about 10 or 11, we moved further up into the bush, further up a hill that was a good 45 minutes outside of the city - a commute that my Mom didn't make twice a week when she worked late and stayed at my Grandma's place in the city.  As a pending teenager, this was beginning to seriously cramp my style (you know, all the style a pre-teen in the late 80's had).


I remember a few times, resorting to (MOM, DON'T READ THIS) hitchhiking to a few parties or riding my bike to the village even though I wasn't supposed to, petrified I would be seen by one of my parents' friends and be squealed on.  Fortunately I wasn't kidnapped or raped during the hitchhiking and when I was 16, like almost every other 16 year-old in my surrounding area, began the process of getting my driver's licence.


Because she was a good half year older that I, Stephanie was the first of us to get her driver's licence and then a car. Being able to pile into her car with our friends and go out was beyond thrilling.  My first lesson in driving a standard was with her in the parking lot of a rock quarry in Wakefield (Strangely this didn't prepare me for the actual driver's ed).  After one failed attempt on my practical exam (they frown on running red lights for some reason), I had a good friend give me some pivate parallel parking lessons and I was good to go the second time around.  


Except I didn't have a car.  Driver's Licence + No Car = Wrench in Plans.  I wound up moving into the city for college and made use of public transportation (the "Spo" fr short) until my Grandma gifted me with her car.  The Granny-Mobile was a light blue '84 Ford Escort, immaculate and washed every week (until I got it) with ultra-low mileage.  I was finally a woman, I was finally free; I could get into that car and drive wherever I wanted to, whenever I wanted to. Profoundly awesome.  Sometimes it's the little things you know.


I left that baby behind when I moved to Vancouver, where having no car wasn't as stifling; the Skytrains are very efficient and can bring you so many places in a reasonable amount of time.  But when I returned to the Gatineau Hills, pregnant, back to my parents house, I was again without a vehicle and dependent on other people's schedules. I hated it as much as I appreciated the help.  The Granny-Mobile still sat in the driveway, but she needed more work than I could afford.  We moved back into the city after a few months, but life with a newborn and no car is no fantasy.  Rides from my Grandma to bring me grocery shopping were appreciated, but spontaneity went the way of the wind. 


We finally got a car when the Boy was 2 or so.  A little Toyota Echo, a good city car to get to and fro.  This is a car built for necessity, efficient and compact and it served its purpose.  But when we moved back to the country, the Ex with a job in the city and me at home with the Boy and the brand new baby Girl, I was trapped yet again.  I experienced a great deal of frustration that year before returning to work which required us getting a second vehicle. 


When I left the Ex, I moved back into the city, knowing I wouldn't be able to afford a car and was prepared to rely on the "Spo" and my legs; I sold the Echo.  Again, depending on my parents or my Grandma for rides to the grocery store, which wasn't as bad this time because my location was pretty central, but when the bus trike happened, I felt defeated.  Then something very interesting happened.  People started lending me cars.  Not just my parents, but relative strangers!  A woman I had worked with at a temp job knew my situation and in discovering that she lived a block away from me, she offered up her car whenever I needed it, then, a woman who's son took the bus with the Boy and Girl offered her Subaru whenever I wanted.  They had 2 cars and almost never needed both of them.  At that moment, when I could get into that car and drive wherever I needed to, I remembered that piece of freedom.  That car was also a pretty sweet ride.  I first drove it during the winter and as I was heading to the grocery store, I began to wonder if I was getting a fever, but finally discovered that it had heated seats!  I had never experienced that luxury!  


And so after almost a year of living in the city, I realized it was time to head back to the Hills, the kids needed to reconnect with their friends and have more stability in this environment.  It was in chatting with a very dear friend and discussing what I would need in order to get myself back here that one of the most generous offers was made to me - my current, awesome, survivor of a car.  A '98 VW Cabrio that is the toughest car I've ever been in.

The Toughest Car EVER!

It was when I first drove this       car that I understood people talking about "enjoying" driving.  I'd only ever driven out of necessity, but this car is fun to drive, it handles the road well, it powerful and hey, it's a convertible, so sometimes I get to drive topless.  This car has a pretty rich history of getting people to important places at just the right time and I'm very grateful to have it.  


There are days when I feel like getting in the car and driving off, away, to a different place where no one knows me, where I can start all over again, where I have no history.  And while I'm pretty sure I won't ever do that, I like knowing that I could if I really wanted to.  And so I will content myself with being able to up and go to the grocery store whenever I damn well please, or  spontaneously go visit you if I so please!  Because that's just how hardcore I really am.