Drive Your Chevy to the Levy!

Growing up on a grain and hog farm came with some perks. For instance, I learned to drive at age 7 in the hay meadow. I could barely see over the steering wheel and certainly couldn't reach the pedals. Even if I could reach the pedals, almost every car or truck we owned was a standard. In retrospect, I now think it kept my teenage sister from sneeking out in the middle of the night and going for a joy ride. My dad would take me out in the field and let me just turn circles for hours it seemed. This of course was before we knew about our carbon footprint. Once I could drive in a straight line, I was able to drive while they loaded hay in to the truck bed. That was so cool. I thought I was the big cheese. I couldn't wait to have a car of my own.

Fast forward, the year was 1992. Converse and I were out of college and headed to Denver to follow our dreams. Our first real jobs. It was time to buy my dream car! BMW, Mercedes, Jag, or perhaps a Saab...I would settle for an Audi or even a Subaru...Ok, so I left a little detail out of the equation, did I mention our first jobs were as a biologist and teacher. Oh, that changes our vision a little...so we found a used Chevy. Not just any Chevy, a Chevy Beretta, GT.  Sweet Niblets!

It had considerable juice and could get from 0 - 60 in at least 90 seconds. Much more power than the wood panelled wagoneer. Plus it even had a cassette player. It took the mountains on and never smoked. It was my car and I really liked it, a lot. At the time, I never once thought that I would be buying the car that I would continue to drive for the next 10 years. It became a part of the family. Tagged in numerous states. As time passed on, and the white paint began to chip, it began shaking at speeds between 50-60 mph, I would threaten to leave it unlocked with the windows down in a parking garage while I went to work in the city. But secretly, I still loved my first car.  Converse, loved the fact it was paid for and wanted to go for the Guiness Book of World Records...how many miles can a chevy go without a major repair. Finally, it was time to let it go. I needed something a little more reliable, so we thought. So we gave it away to a charity close to the community I grew up in. We thought we would never see it again. That was in 2002.

Today, I opened an email from Converse, who is ironically working on a project close to my home community. I couldn't believe my eyes,there was a picture of my Beretta! He was simply walking into the hotel and glanced into the parking lot. His eyes locked on a 1991 Chevy Beretta GT with the same small mom and pop dealership emblem we had purchased it at on the trunk.  The Beretta is alive and well....well......well.....oh dear, it's driver window couldn't roll up and the seats were ripped out, and the lining on the roof was falling down, and the paint was chipped and rusted. My eyes watered! My car! I sat at my computer and a flood of memories came back. Then I called Converse and suggested we buy it back and refurbish it. I want to sit at a small town drive in when I am retired on a Friday night and be a classic car gal! Please! One of my good friends, also a fellow Beretta owner, reminded me that they discontinued that model for a reason.Converse also gently reminded me that we had other responsibilities like paying our mortgage down, saving for our children's college, and buying Easter dresses for the girls.

Good point Converse, you always ground me. But Nike Girl and Weebok would love drving the Beretta to high school......Ok, I will let it go.....that Chevy certainly had been driven to the levy! And baby by the looks of it, that levy was dry!!

Peace.
The "New Balance " Girl

Running Report: Ran 4 in a 25 mph head wind. Not pleasant but no complaints! I did not have to wear snowshoes today! Spring has Sprung! Can you say tornado? It was hot.