Remember when we went an entire month (in the middle of winter, no less) without using our car? And remember how, as part of our 2012 New Year’s resolutions, we then tried to sell it because we wanted to pay off as much debt as possible? (But couldn’t sell it because it was worth too much for used island car and we weren’t willing to go below the value.)
Well, yesterday, we went in the completely opposite direction of our original car-free, debt-free, no carbon footprint goal.
Yes, Chris bought a truck. A giant, gas guzzling truck.
We knew when we moved away from Nantucket that a second car might be part of the change. Unlike our tightly packed little island where everything we needed was within two miles of our house, we now live in the land of traffic lights, speed limits greater than 20 mph, and suburban sprawl.
I had rallied for a while for a continued one car existence. It turns out that the apartment complex that is our interim home is just blocks away from a local rec. center, a mile away from the library and parks, and two miles away from the grocery store and Chris’ restaurant. I thought the girls and I could easily continue with our walking lifestyle while Chris drove back and forth to work, but the snag was that Chris will occasionally be going on business trips down to Denver for days at a time. He didn’t like the idea of leaving us without a car for that long and, I’ll admit, even when he was home it would have sometimes been annoying for me to not have a car (especially since we have another year before Zara can ride in the bike trailer). So, just as I gave up on going carless, I resolved myself to the fact that we would again have two.
And, because Chris will be doing a considerable amount of catering including possibly needing to tow a food trailer, I gave up on the idea that car #2 might be a tiny, efficient little thing. Sometimes, practicality is not what we would expect. I guess it fits the place.
All he needs now is a cowboy hat and boots and he’ll blend right in. Nora was equally excited about Chris’ new truck (and just as hopeful that he would get a cowboy hat).
But she won’t be doing much riding in it — or in the CRV for that matter. Though we now have two cars like the rest of America, I hope to maintain our walking ways as much as possible. There are one or two kid activities that are out of what I would consider easily walkable range and, since we have two little ones now, I’ll probably shop with the car. Otherwise, I plan to walk, walk, walk: to the pool, to the library, to the playground, and to wherever else we might go. The plus side to living in “America” is that, even if things are farther away, the sidewalks are much, much better!