Going Green

We did it! We bought a car yesterday about as GREEN as you can get...and we love it.

But back up a minute. Remember all those sheets of USA stamps I was selling on eBay last year...and the books on Amazon.com, the estate sale, etc., etc.? Little by little, it all started adding up and in the back of my mind, I knew it would be for a car. That, along with the sale of my Honda Civic Hybrid in January, thanks to the oversight of Amy and Dennis in Atlanta.

We could have bought the car a month ago but we decided to wait till my residence permit was approved...maybe months from now. It seemed prudent to wait. What if I couldn't stay?? So when the residence permit was approved so quickly (see my Blue Moon post), I said, "OK, now we can buy our car!"

Believe it or not, we had already done our extensive research last August and did not waver on our choice: a 2010 Daihatsu Cuore in very childlike lime-green. It seemed like an added "good omen" when the exact same car was showcased inside my bank a week ago, as the green way to go!

The short version (16 sec.):



The long version (2:16 min):



Talk about GREEN:

"The Cuore's 1000 cc, 3-cylinder, 12-valve, DOHC DVVT (Dynamic Variable Valve Timing) engine is highly efficient and achieves excellent fuel economy figures of 4.6 litres/100 km [50 mpg]. It also excels in terms of environmental performance by achieving a CO2 emission figure of 109 g/km (achieved by certain 3-door M/T models). The engine develops rich torque throughout its rev range, pulling the car from low-speed driving in the city to high-speed cruising on motorways without a hint of stress. This is an engine that combines ecology and high performance at a high level.... The Cuore clears the latest stringent European safety standards with ease."

OK. For America, this is a small car. For Europe, it's PERFECT. On a scale of 1 - 10 for ecological "green," with 10 being the best, it rates a 9.

We don't have it yet. It takes a week to transport it to our city and put it through it's registration and prep hoops. But guess what: it's paid for! This is the first time I've ever paid for a new car outright and I feel like a little kid.

As Astrid says, we are going for our Joy each and every day. We are happy with so little. Can you imagine how happy we are with much!

Wanna help us name her? We just recently watched Fried Green Tomatoes and Towanda is at the top of our list thus far.

Tootin' My Horn

As they say, if WE don't do it, who will!

So, today is my turn at Vision and Verb again and how else would you know unless I tell you. It's about Innocence and relates to a series I'm doing on my photoblog right now about the children of Carnival here in Holland.

I didn't grow up with Mardi Gras/Carnival and really had no clue until my later years as an adult. Words like debauchery and licentiousness came to mind. Get all your wildness and depravity out now before you face Lent and any semblance of sobriety. It's better to ask for forgiveness than permission!

Astrid must have grown up with similar ideas because as she would say, she "has nothing with" Carnival. Or in Dutch, CarnAval. So I had to make a decision if I would go out on my own the two blocks from home to take pictures. I decided to go while Astrid did errands, afraid I'd regret not seeing what it was all about here in Small-town, Holland...before having to wait another year.

My Vision and Verb post will give you a better idea of what the experience elicited from me, but it was the children who mesmerized me, dressed up on the sidelines as though ready for Halloween. Children who believe in Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny. Children who haven't lost their Innocence...yet.

My absolute favorite of the bunch is this charming lass below. I still stare at her as though I am she...as though through her eyes my own Innocence is regained. Is that possible?