The last thing I expected to do this week was to get a new car, but that’s what Zinnia and I did today. I’m getting rid of the car Maria and I have shared and driven as long as we have been together.

I spent more than $2,000 in the past few months on my very beloved 11-year-old Toyota Highlander SUV.

Maria and I drove all over the country on book tours in the car, I hoped to keep it for years longer, but my mechanic tells me the underbelly of the car is rusting away and I will need to spend another thousand dollars or so on brake work.

We nearly wrecked the car twice hitting deer, and skidded all over the place during our icy winters.

The car has 180,000 miles on it. I wasn’t sure we could even buy a car right now, but I called a local Toyota dealership on impulse and Nicky answered the call.

Today was his first day back at work after a month-long layoff. I was ready to buy, he was ready to sell. I know car dealers are desperate to sell cars these days, I thought it was a good time to move.

I knew we wouldn’t get a lot of money for the Highlander, Nicky said $1,500 was the most he could offer.

My philosophy of dealing with car salespeople is to treat them with respect but bargain hard, especially now. Nick was honest and professional with me.

Like everything else right now, getting a car is surreal. You can’t go into the showroom but you can sit in the reception room near the service area. Staff and buyers are wearing masks.

You can test drive a car by yourself, then the ballet continues – everyone in masks, haggling and negotiating on chairs six or more feet apart. Very different.

Zinnia was amazing, she came into the dealers with me, and sat on the floor quite still receiving admirers, many with treats. I had left her in the car, but the mechanic who inspected the SUV told me she was very sweet and should come inside. So she did.

Zinnia is the most amazing dog, I can take her anyplace with confidence.

I had a fixed budget in my head, and Nicky and I decided the best financial move was to lease a car for three years for a cost of $325 a month, a lot less than I expected to pay. It was a good deal, the best I could get.

The leasing idea makes sense to me now, I didn’t need a down payment (I might need the money for other things, like surviving). And I stayed within my budget. Every other time I bought a car, I just got one with all the junk on it.

I want to do it differently now, in this work, at this time. I was fixated on a hybrid and a Rav 4.

I test drove a 2019  Rav 4, and was about to shake on it (we don’t shake anymore since the Pandemic, we nod) when Nicky was called into the office, and then embarrassed to tell me the car had just sold online.

So I’m getting a new Rav 4, a 2020 model for the same amount. It might be blue or the black color above.

In three years, I can buy it or get another car. I like the car, it’s a big step for me. It’s smaller than any car I’ve bought but big enough, it is an SUV.

I insisted on buying a hybrid, I wanted to weave more of my life around dealing with the environment, this model gets about 41 miles to the gallon. My wish is that everyone chooses smaller cars with better mileage. I’ve given up plastic bottles of any kind, going solar, downsizing my car.

I really want to be part of the solution, not the problem.

We are also getting our solar panels installed in the pasture in the next month or so. A green year for me, for us.

The hoax for me is that climate change isn’t real. Maria and I are committed to doing better for our sister, the Earth. It is now something we share together.

So tomorrow or Wednesday, I’ll say goodbye to the loyal SUV that has served us so well and start a new chapter in my life with cars.  I love my car, but I don’t love my car if you know what I mean.

Maria has her own car, but we often drive together.

And I have to say, Zinnia is a phenomenal dog, she is everything I wanted and needed. I dropped the leash in the dealership and she just hung out with us, greeting a few people, mostly dozing at my feet.

I can’t quite remember life without her. She is an anchor.