While the brushes are soaking and we are between coats in our just about perfect yellow room (yay!) I thought I would introduce you to my new adventure buddy.

Stella Magnolia.

You will remember the tragedy of the semi truck and the tree limb which totaled my old adventure buddy in March.

I was not sure I would ever love again after that, and then…I spotted this little number on one of the used car sites. She is a six speed, 2014 Nissan Juke. White with red side mirrors and a red racing stripe. (A tribute to my beloved red Juke.)

She was in Illinois but thanks to the power of the internet, we were able to make the purchase and handle the transaction online and via telephone. She arrived on a car carrier about two weeks ago but due to the government buildings remaining closed while the rest of the state opened up (don’t get me started) we were only recently able to get her registered and make it official with a drive along the coast.

She is similar to my original Juke (which is why I felt comfortable buying her without a test drive,) a few years newer, with a few more perks and a few less miles.

“Do you love her?” I am asked and I reply in the affirmative. Although at this point I am not quite there. Not yet. It is too early and we are still in the “getting to know each other” phase. Love comes with trust and we have not yet been tested.

I am a “short shifter” and her clutch is tight resulting in a rev at stop lights that I can’t yet control, leaving me embarrassingly far behind when the Buick next to me thinks I want to race. I reach for the nonexistent sunroof button and sigh when my finger finds only roof.

Her last owner was Anthony. I know this because her Bluetooth keeps trying to connect to his iPhone. Keeps trying to find her way back to open plains and prairies.

I imagine he outgrew her racing stripe.

Upgraded to something more adult, something society expects once you reach a “certain age.”

“Been there” I think as I adhere my Bansky’s “Balloon Girl” decal right of center on the hatchback, sync my Bluetooth to answer the call of her seek and search echolocation, up the volume, roll down the windows, clear the windshield of Spanish Moss, turn East while she pulls North. Rev the engine at the stoplight, ease the clutch, shift the gears, and give her landlocked heart a taste of salt air and a glimpse of the sea.

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