I bought a car

Just a small, modest, fuel efficient one. I don't want to describe it online for privacy reasons, but it's the basic official vehicle of the Pacific Northwest. I had to put a colorful sticker on it so I can find it in shopping center parking lots. It was that sign in the shop window in October that made up my mind: I don't want to be a flat squirrel on the road of life. I've been considering this step for a year or two, after having cataract surgery to correct the vision in my right eye, but kept coming back to the same old obstacles - gas prices, insurance costs, lack of secure parking, climate change . . . 

But I had to take a cab home from the eye surgery because I couldn't find anyone available to give me a ride, even to drive my car, if I'd had one. Then in June I had to take the bus to Urgent Care, and in October I walked a mile each way to the doctor's office for a COVID test. Not to mention the three days in December when I had to ride my bike to work in icy weather, arrived 45 minutes late, or wiped out on black ice. There are times I really need a car, even if I don't drive often or use it for commuting. My first errand was to Goodwill, to drop off some large bags of old clothes and stuff that have been sitting in my apartment for YEARS because they were too heavy and awkward to carry on the bus. And there's more spring cleaning to be done.

There is a wise cyclists' saying: Bicycles burn fat and save money, cars burn money and make you fat. So one condition I've set for myself is to be sure to get some exercise at least five days a week, at least walking a couple of miles along the river. I found some not-too-hard at-home yoga and strength building workout routines to do three or four times a week. I have to modify some excercises - side planks with side leg lifts, 20 reps on each side, repeated twice is too much for my spine, but I can do reclining side leg-lifts, or low side planks with hip pulses. And I'm already getting better.