Thursday, June 2, 2011

The buggy before the horse...

...or in our case, the car seat before the car. Actually, its not even a car. Its a van. And what better to go with Joel's new car seat, than a new van?!
We were lovingly gifted G-ma's old van, since she is no longer able to drive. So, after much contemplation, and a very selfish act of Amanda's mother, we accepted the generous donation. We would have preferred to continue to live without a vehicle, but basically my mom said that she is forcing us to take the van so that she doesn't have to come out and pick us up all the time. And for taking the van, she would lovingly gift us a half years worth of insurance. How could we refuse?? Actually, we did refuse, but my mother forced us to take it anyway. She said she was being selfish. We will gladly accept her selfishness.
We feel quite hesitant about owning a vehicle. In some small way, we feel like we are violating our own morals of car free living. I guess for us, the temptation is to fall into the pattern of using the car for daily living and give up on walking. But our intention is to continue to walk. To only use the van for long distance trips. (yah! camping! road trips! vancouver!) Groceries will continue to be hauled home by hand and cart! Trips to the mall will still be on foot (or by bike if we can manage)!
There is a part of us that feels like we are giving up that "Car-Free, Care-Free" mentality we had for almost 5 years. Without a vehicle, you don't have to worry about gas prices, break-downs (and the exorbitant costs), and the various other issues that crop up with owning a vehicle (you never get a speeding ticket on foot!) Its going to be interesting to see if we can stick to our walking ways, even with the possession of a vehicle.

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