Farewell Lady Blue

You know you’re committed to your career when you sell your vehicle in service of it. Reluctantly but rationally, when I decided to embark on “one year of writing residencies on the road,” I understood this would mean selling Lady Blue. A few weeks ago I found a buyer. Like me, he needs it for his difficult driveway, and also like me, he understand just how beat up this old Ford Ranger really is.

I took her up Fork Mountain one last time and my friend took this photo of me wielding a mighty pen—the instrument I’ll use the most in the coming year. Would you trade a truck for a year with a pen? I just did.

For the next 7 weeks, I’ll be hiking ½ mile up a steep grade to get to and from my house (flashback to winter 2007).

We signed the papers, had the title notarized, and I accepted a check for $450. That covers the money I put into Lady Blue in the one year that I owned her—including the initial purchase of the vehicle. I’m breaking even but it still feels like a financial boost. Every penny is going into savings for 2010, which is already looking like an epic year.