I told my new-found friends at the used car lot --- whatever you do, I want  everything finalized on 4-12-07.  If Friday the 13th shows on any document, the deal is off.  I was NOT going to categorize a new (or old) relationship by the 13th of anything.  And I meant it. 

So on the 11th, I prepped one of my best friends for the after-life.  I shudder to think what lies ahead .... a wholesale dealer's lot .... an auto parts junk pile .... maybe a fishin' car for someone to drive to the river in the afternoon .... Maybe a classic second or third vehicle for a family that has both the means and needs for such ... maybe a few more years of exploring highways and by-ways. 

I traded the ole jeep yesterday. 

Traumatic experience for me.  The family had been "nudging" me to trade since Christmas.  Laden with aura and miles of memories, my beloved 1993 Jeep Grand Wagoneer was showing it's age and I'd already spent enough in repairs (last year alone) for a substantial down-payment yada yada yada ... So I traded a perfectly functional, intact (except for a broken windshield  courtesy of a snowplow somewhere in Utah and a few other memorable dinks) high-dollar (in its day) home-on-the-road jeep for a 10-year younger front-wheel drive, loaded (as my brother sez) jag-of-a-lifetime regular-type former-lease low-mileage car that even algore would approve.  

I loved my jeep .... wanted to keep it, but it is (was) illogical for one person to keep two vehicles when there is only the need for one .... I hadn't looked in the storage space under the back seats in years.  Much less at what had been accumulating under the front seats or in the glovebox, console bin and door pockets ....

The tears flowed as I cleaned out 15 years of maps, lotion bottles, combs, paper clips, 4 personal hygiene travel-packs, doggie bags (pooper scoopers), french fries (I think), hardly-recognizable pellets of dog food, assorted pens and pencils, keys to only-God-knows-what, three license plates (long stories each -- but I didn't mean to lie to the licensing bureaus in as many states -- honest), multiple faded receipts, original manuals and "how-2" pamphlets, forgotten CDs and tapes, four broken umbrellas, a can of WD-40 with companion duct tape, a dated rock from the Snake River in Dubois (WY), a brochure from the Silverado Gold Mine near Fairbanks (AK), three tubes of melted lipstick (in my favorite earth tones),  empty window cleaner bottles, handi-wipes, two cameras, one roll of film, a small mangle of tv cords and connections, a radar buster, one road-side flare thingie, a Pinehurst golf scorecard (referencing one birdie, a sporadic bogey or double-bogey), two old pay cell-phones, one expired phone card, four dog chew sticks, a dc converter thingie, four coffee mugs (two from the same set), one sock, two pairs of scissors, a sun visor, four screwdrivers, one hammer, several golf tees, a badminton birdie, a box of thumb-tacks, strange looking screws of all sizes with matching  turny-thingies, two non-matching earrings, gobs of dog hair, a six-pack of bottled water and at least $18 in coins. 

Last night I woke up twice to look out the window -- wondering if that faithful ole jeep had escaped the dealership fencing and found its way home.  I'll miss it --- the wondrous experiences, the miles we logged together, the vistas and horizons we sought, the bumps in the road along the way, the times of repose we shared ....

May the road always rise up to meet you, good and reliable friend. 

Godspeed.