The Longest Drive

One would think that the parting of souls, welded together, would leave some sort of mark on the universe. Such a schism should tear the fabric of the cosmos so that the majority of people who walk by the location would at least sense the sadness and the few wise men left in the world, attunned to that sort of thing, would actually know something terrible transpired in that spot.

I always thought that when two such souls leave each other it would be accompanied by some sort of noise, like the smack of a suction cup on a glass door or the popping of the last popcorn kernel. However, what I experienced today was nothing like that. There was no sound, no wisp of light, no smell of death. Indeed, there was only a feeling: deceleration. Though I maintained a constant pressure on the gas peddle, my car (White Lightning) began to slow.

We had just made it over the incline at the end of Camarillo when it happened. Those who have ridden south in White Lightning know that incline. It is the make-it-or-break-it point. We (White Lightning and I) had just finished the mandatory celebration when she lost the will to live. I felt it go. I felt her resignation... This would be our last ride together, and she sunk into a deep depression. We pulled over but knew there was nothing to be done, we had to stay the course.

It is amazing how fast the signs of old age set in once the will to go on had passed: hot flashes, shivers, an artheritic speedometer needle. Most notable is that my '91 Camry drove like there was a 91-yr old behind the wheel. There was an absolute max speed of 60 miles per hour... with the peddle on the floor. Hills were traumatic and the max speed depended on length of the incline and speed at which I entered into the climb; sometimes we would crawl at 25mph up the rightmost lane on the freeway. Even once we crested the summit accelerating was a task like no other, zero to sixty in about six minutes.

Remarkably we made it to San Diego. When we reached our exit my skin was soaked, partially from the tension of the drive and partially because I could not waste the much needed power on air conditioning.

White Lighting and I have been together since I turned sixteen. We have shared more sad songs and happy memories together than most of my closest comrades. Six years is nothing to scoff at. There were many times where I thought that she might not make it and at one point I even had a bottle of Martinellis and two paper cups stashed in my trunk for when she finally kicket the gasket. However, I decided that it was not showing her enough faith to keep such a thing and Karissa and I used the bottle for Valentine's Day. That was over two years ago.

Many people do not know this, but her actual name is Claire. Her favorite song is "Up" by Shania Twain but her theme song is "Hells Bells" by ACDC ("White lightning's flashing across the sky!"). Her record cargo was five people and three surfboards, which is currently within her capacity but this was before I bought my roofracks.

While I must adjust to new spatial handicaps in all of my other relationships, I must say goodbye to Claire forever and know that she will always be the greatest car I have ever had the pleasure of driving.