david taus

Camry Clean-Up

music: Sigur Ros- Ba Ba Ti Ki Di Do

My car has been in some pretty wild places. Since I brought it out to the East Coast in 2000 I’ve been dipping here and there, down interstates, city streetst, country lanes, and roads that it probably shouldn’t have gone on. THW-455 has traversed the country’s lattitude three times and longitude twice. It has been accomplice to several impromptu road trips. It has hauled my stuff around more than it would like (if it had the capacity for liking); I treat it like a truck. I lived out of the thing for two months in the summer of 2004. And all the while it had Wisconsin plates on it, even though i haven’t really lived in Wisconsin since 1997.

Today was the last day for THW-455. The car is fine, save some dents, dings, scrapes, and a small rust spot on the trunk. But I finally did the legal thing, went to the DMV, got a smog inspection, and transferred the trusty Camry’s title and registration to the state of California. It’s now got some stupid string of numbers and letters and a stupid red font that says California. Gone are the little dairy farm and sailboat of the far superior Wisconsin license plate. It’s all very strange, like a good friend who has been growing their hair and beard for eight years finally decides to shave their head bald. But it’s done. the old Wisconsin license plate is hanging on my wall, 2005 inspection sticker and all. But this is a new phase for the Camry. At eight years old and with 70,948 miles it’s hopefully just entering middle age, and even with this strange new alphanumeric designation I’m hoping that this car that has been so far with me isn’t through. After all, there is much more adventuring to be done.