Halfway to a Thousand

I remember when I got my first car, and no, it wasn’t at 16 when half the people I know got theirs. It wasn’t even when I turned 18, or 21, which coincidentally was when I got a car, but it was never truly mine. No, the car I’m referring to was an “old person” car. You know the kind I mean, that’s always driving low and going slow on the road? It even had that “old guy” smell and was called an Oldsmobile too, go figure. But I called it my first car because we paid cash for it, and it was the car I primarily drove, at least for a few months until it crapped out. Gotta love that.

So, when I eased that car out of the small garage it had sat in for several years, I had bright aspirations for it. I was going to learn how to parallel park that behemoth. I was going to get a tweed “driving” jacket. And best of all, I was going to watch that baby’s odometer climb. The first one hundred miles went by in a blur, from the old garage to my house and a quick trip to get groceries. Wow, that went by fast, and so did the next one hundred miles. Finally, I hit that magic number, halfway to a thousand, which was coincidentally also when I finally learned how much room I would need to parallel park that thing that might as well have been called a boat.

There was something about 500. There is still something about 500 that just calls out to me. And I know I don’t live in Daytona, so that can’t be it. And I know I don’t have that much money in the bank, so that also can’t be it. But nevertheless there is something about that number. I drove that car until it died, pretty much, but that first 500 miles was magical. I rode low and drove slow, and I had an excuse. “I’m old and I’m coming back!,” to quite a hysterical Seinfeld phrase, was my mantra, even though I wasn’t old, but I think I felt wiser in that car. And I remember where I was when that car said I had gone 500 miles too, pulling back into the town I call home. Which was fitting, very fitting for me to hit 500 right then.

It’s also fitting that this is my 500th blog post. I can’t believe it has gone by so fast, but just like with the 500 miles, I was never counting up to it. It is just a nice mile marker along my way, halfway to a thousand. And still motoring. Thanks for coming on this ride with me.

Sam