Back in Two Weeks
Some of you know that I bought a kei truck last year, shortly after the election. I knew I’d need something stronger than a jigsaw puzzle to absorb my nervous energy while I figured out where—and how—to plug in to this brave new world.
I’m not a car person, but I fell in love with these trucks decades ago, while living in Asia. “They’re the tugboats of dry land!” I explained to someone at a bar…who presumably left shortly afterward.
When I learned that kei trucks were street legal in Washington State, I went for it. Never mind that I didn’t know how to drive a stick shift, the steering wheel is on the right-hand side, spare parts have to be sourced on eBay, and you have to become your own mechanic. (It was a very, VERY hard puzzle I was after.)
When I showed the truck to my kids, my daughter said, “This is the weirdest thing you’ve ever done.” Her expression suggested she had kept a long and detailed list.
Anyway, because it is the single most relaxing thing in my life, I’m using a photo of my truck to let you know that I’m going on vacation. There will be no Zoom call on Monday (let’s skip August) and no post from me next Friday. My next post will arrive on August 15th.
While I’m away, I won’t actually be doing anything as soothing as sanding rust spots. Instead, I’ll be with extended family—people I love but who see the world, and Trump, very differently from me. I’ll try to have some meaningful conversations. And when things get tense—and they will—I’ll pivot to the topic of my truck: “The thing about my clutch,” I’ll say, “is that it has a lot of travel in it.” That’s the kind of sentence I can say with a totally straight face now.
