As the Wheels Turn

I have not seen her yet. She is a new love I hope to share with my husband. This year has been difficult on us — the kids and their school were a constant source of conflict. Then there was an albeit brief job scare. The stress of establishing a new business. Broken limbs and scary diagnoses. No family vacations for two years.

She is a signal that life will be good again. Promising and exciting. That the wheel is turning.

She is a beauty. I can’t wait to cuddle in her lap and drive down the serpentine coastal road while we sing. We will be single and carefree again with the wind blowing through our hair. We will check out our favorite beaches and stop at small cafes.

She is a new girlfriend that my friends are eager to welcome. She reminds them of freedom, too.

She is as much an epitome of California for me as is its palm-edged freeways. Don’t laugh — I come from a cold country with bad roads.

She is a new car — a convertible and I am waiting for my California Moment to arrive.

I have few of them now that the excitement of moving to another country has worn off. And I treasure each and one of them. The realization that I made it, and can-you-believe-it! pinch-me-I-am-in-California come in unexpected places — the gas station next to a freeway fork, during a sunset at a sanitary station turned into a bird preserve, and driving back home at night, warm air streaming through my window.

Not a material girl in general, I am giddy with excitement! I feel indulgent to be able to buy the car for my husband. The truth is we’ve been a one-car family for ten years. With new jobs and demanding kids, and schedules spread all over the place, managing the logistics of it all has become cumbersome.

As paradoxically as it may sound, for the little driving that we do, she is the next best thing to the SMART car as far as fuel consumption is concerned and with much more sex appeal. And, maybe, in another good turn of events, I will be able to buy an electric convertible in a couple of years.

Is it too California-like to dedicate so many words to a material good? Maybe. As I told my husband: I’ve arrived!