The daily drive


Back in the day LOML and I rarely used our car. Our first car (for both of us) was a little turquoise manual Ford Festiva. A super-small car that's easy to park in the cramped inner-city, but LOML and I are 'big people' so I imagine many people thought we were driving by on our way to the circus.

We traded up a size to a silver Subaru Impreza hatchback when Maxi came along. Then a year later we had to upgrade again to a blue Subaru Outback because we couldn't fit the 'big rig' double pram in the back of the Impreza. Yeah, I know, the sensible thing would have been to rethink the pram, but hey, we were sleep-deprived.

Two years after that* we got the black seven-seater Ford Terror to accommodate three car seats across the back and all the assorted prams, scooters, bikes and friends that a family rolls with these days. We've had the Terror for three years now and we still have the Outback. The Outback Terror of it all.

Before we moved out to live amongst the sticks, we never drove a lot. Now we have two cars and we have to drive one or both of those cars most days to go anywhere. I've never properly adjusted to that. The fact that we need not just one but two cars, most days. A little while ago we had a few weeks where we loaned the Outback to LOML's sister and it was a really complicated, inconvenient few weeks indeed.

We rely on our cars. Eeek.

I miss being able to walk out our front door and go somewhere. We still do a big walk up to the shops or over to a friend's place or down to the park, but it's not the same. It's an excursion to walk anywhere these days, rather than just the way we get around. I used to walk to the city for work from our old place, now it involves a car ride, a train ride and a walk.

It's the only thing I don't like about our entirely likeable home. The fact that it's not close to anything at all. Impossible to change that, but who has hours and hours free to walk places?

How many cars do you have? 
Do you still get to walk a lot?

*  Looking back on that list now, I realise that LOML and I do seem to lack forward planning skills. Heh, heh, does that make us inefficient 'family planners'?


[Image via weheartit - please let me know if it is yours!]