Thursday, February 7, 2013

Time capsule on wheels

It pays to clean out the car. $4.78 to be exact, and the big score - a $20 bill! Now how did I lose that? It probably happened sometime between rushing from the grocery store and picking the kids from school one typical day.

The car is being cleared out of all its treasures because we are trading it in today for a new one. I've had my trusty red Vibe for almost a decade now, driving 190 000 km of local errands and family trips. Along with those adventures comes some of the stuff that gets crammed between the seats or tucked into seat pockets.


Blury picture of car crap


Owen was 5 and Laura was 3 when we got this car. It has seen us through playdates, grandparent visits, cousin farm trips and camping adventures. There have been blizzard rides with windshield wipers batting the snow away as I crept through the drifts as well as make-shift umbrellas under the hatch after a soggy soccer game. Cooling off in it after trips to the beach under the blasting air conditioner vents has helped soothe cranky kids on a July day.

The stash is like a moving time capsule, a memory box of moments in time that this car has seen with us in it. Old maps, seaglass, shells and Solarcaine remind me of our road trip to PEI a few summers ago. Kids music CDs, melted crayons and McDonald's toys tell tales about long rides to visit family and friends. Now why is there a Bismuth pack there? Oh yes... I may have been possibly hung over a bit after a weekend with friends. Brochures and schedules to kid events as I was taxi-mom around town. All pieces of my time with the kids as they grew from toddlers to today.

Zee Vibe in her natural winter habitat


Sure she has her bumps and scratches from her adventures but 'Vibey' never let us down. There have been so many smiles over the miles and endless love in those car seats. May our next car be half as amazing.


 

4 comments:

  1. wow! how is that all there is in your car after 10 years? we have more then that and we've had the car for just over a year! ;)

    happy memories with the new car!

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  2. I wrote a love letter to my little Civic when it died. So many memories. Enjoy the new one. What are you getting?

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  3. Got a Nissan Sentra. So far, so good! And that isn't all that was lurking in the car, just the non-garbage stuff. Lol!

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  4. Aw, hope your kids are okay. Ours are unreasonably attached to our vehicles, giving them names and talking to them all the time. One of our cars, the one we got just before our oldest was born, is starting to show signs of its age - and the kids are excited about maybe getting a new one, but tearful about letting this one go. Being a kid is HARD, yo.

    Hope the new one is totally awesome!

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