About 24 hours with a 2017 Honda Accord in downtown Atlanta.

I’ve been home the past couple of weeks, not going anywhere and certainly not with any distance. Just the same couple of locations, but even those have stopped recently.

Recently I’ve just been sitting still. Two weeks ago, I went right down the block; same street just past the Aquarium and over the bridge and past the park and into a different world that’s still downtown Atlanta. Vine City and Atlantic Avenue, but most call all of it Bankhead, whether it is or isn’t.

I know it’s not because I know the roads. I know that Joseph Lowery becomes Ivan Allen which becomes Ralph McGill and it’s all one long line stretching through different parts of the same city.

I heard him say that to the four children that entered the car from our destination in Vine City a couple Saturdays back. All we did was drive up the street; they got in and I heard him explain exactly where we were over and over again to those kids as we moved the short distance back to my familiar parking spot.

They all got out with energy. A few hours later, they returned and only he still remained energetic. Must be from the knowledge that he was dropping those kids off & once he did, they were no longer his concern.

No, soon his concern would be for his health.

But that is foreshadowing and for what felt like weeks, we didn’t go anywhere. Almost as if I got something and the only solution was to remain still. Maybe this is now the common cold, the seasonal flu bug that travels around; is its name now COVID with its own fancy test and everything? I’ve heard him talk about the test and we’ve driven past testing sites; but since that Saturday, he’s stayed inside.

There was an initial stop at Amanda’s that first Saturday, then a run early on to Walmart for supplies. But after that, it was isolation for a good 7-10 days. He stopped by briefly, but for the most part I stared at the other cars in this garage; watching their movements and sensing my owner was doing the same; just 30+ flights above my current position.

But then suddenly, we were starting up again. It started with a trip into the office in Tucker. He brought his laptop and was back inside and moving away from there before I got comfortable in the back lot shade. I spent most of Tuesday at Amanda’s, essentially the work day away from home, but not at work. But I was back home before night and alerted I would be used again in the morning.

We left a little after 9 am for a 9:30 appointment, although it was only seven blocks away. There were alternate plans, of course, otherwise he would have walked; but instead I was lucky enough to fit into a parking spot right in front of the street front location. There was construction taking place across the street, but other cars were parked there and they hadn’t closed off the street.

He was visible through the MyEyeDoc clear store front, from door to what would serve as their window, but one you can clearly see through. It only dawns on me now the wisdom of this choice in retrospect.

It was a clear and sunny day, so the sound of thunder brought his attention to outside; along with the EyeDoc attendant. They both looked towards the sky, then across at the construction like cats following the trail of sound to its source. Satisfied, they returned to their seats and I saw him laugh as the attendant questioned his age. Probably mentioned his older sister looks younger, but I was too concerned about the continued noises coming from across the street.

Then suddenly.

He walked out, noticing he would get drenched if attempting to open the door. This clearly wasn’t planned, since others stopped and took pictures and video. He went across the street to the Dunkin’ Donuts visible from my location. I saw both Dunkin’ employee exit the store to take a look at the gusher. The second was his attendant and although he ‘AirDrop’ed the video to her, she didn’t fully blend his frozen coffee and he brooded about that and if this is what “this generation” does now, feeling old and making me sense the age in my short six years of existence.

Purchased at the end of 2016, I’ve always been with one owner, longing for a 1995 version of me that has become the stuff of legends. The trips he took in that vehicle and the things it saw. I can sense how he longs for me to be manual transmission; how he would constantly slip into neutral and ‘coast on momentum’ with the Civic, drifting like a Toad on Rainbow Road.

I could continue with a love letter to a younger me, but that wasn’t me. I’m born and raised just north of Atlanta. I was purchased there, return there for oil changes. He stopped paying for me months ago and I remember exactly where we were for this picture.

I’ve already experienced the first touch of my next owner. He’s promised me to his youngest child and a random weekend afternoon a few weeks back, we drove to an empty mall parking lot – there are countless of them in this city. He parked and she got behind the wheel. He proceeded to let her go, free reign for a few minutes. His hand was firmly locked onto the emergency brake, but he never needed to use it.

And I know I said it was only a few minutes, but it felt like the longest lesson ever. I was with the one who would take me next; who would drive me beyond the few locations I’ve gone so far. Sure, I’ve been to Florida and Savannah, but I’ve heard about trips to New York and Boston. About how I-95 was nothing and going from Atlanta to New York was ‘Just 9 hours’.

About the mythical sunrise bringing colors to the mountains in Montana or the endless sunsets that showcased the change of color across acres from Missouri to the Mississippi Delta.

I’ve been to the Magnolia before, but didn’t make it to the River and wonder if I ever will.

Now that is foreshadowing.

The water hadn’t stopped, but wasn’t pouring against the driver’s side door upon his return. A quick entrance and away we go with a free rinse off. An avoidance of Tucker means this year’s edition of The Pollening wasn’t as bad as in the past.

We’re in False Fall now with temperatures in the 80s and into the 70s at night, making it bearable. It was still somewhat light out when he got in around 9 pm. Conditions were clear, but the health of the driver wasn’t. We had restocked with DayQuil and NyQuil and the trip to Vine City and beyond was just over 10 days ago, so any negative test would be deemed positive.

But there’s always the other side of the coin and should you self-regulate against your self-interests, even if it could be considered in your best interest? If that’s the case, then legally speaking, you shouldn’t be driving at all; whether that’s six months, a year or forever. But if that’s the case and there’s no test to determine whether it’s been six months, a year or if anything is getting better or worse, what is the true fear beyond knowing what is best for oneself? And that long-worded question returns to who is at fault – the driver or those who can’t drive?

I wasn’t thinking about any of this, heading north onto W. Peachtree and then east on North Avenue. Cardinal directions can be confusing, but they play a part somehow. Somehow we found a space underneath the store and away from the potential rain. Georgia summers have short rainstorms that appear and are gone like the wind, especially downtown as the meeting point for so much.

We didn’t meet much resistance as we exited, following the exact same route in reverse. We now traveled west on North Avenue, heading back towards Peachtree Street, the highway and a return home.

(Insert smart tease line here)

For those unfamiliar with the map above, you are looking at downtown Atlanta. EUHM is short for the Emory Hospital; 278, 29, 78 & 8 equals North Avenue, the Fox Theater is two blocks north on Peachtree Street and the big object that you can’t see between the numbers and Linden looms large in every photo posted by my owner.

The Bank of America building looms large despite the lack of a significant resident. At least in comparison to the federal building a few blocks away. I’m sure there are residents, but I don’t know who. Then again, it’s not my job to know who; just where to go and how to get there.

On this day, I was driving west on North Avenue, returning home from a trip to Kroger with intentions to cross Peachtree Street, go past W. Peachtree and turn south on Spring to return home.

It’s a trip home that can be done countless ways, many that avoid the intersection of North Avenue and Peachtree Street entirely. But on this day, we didn’t take any of those routes.

Instead, we drove on North, listening to Mos Def’s first album ‘Black on Both Sides’ from the beginning and singing along was heard, reciting ‘Ms. Fat Booty’ by heart. I believe we were close to looking just like Jane Kennedy, word is born as we approached Peachtree Street and the green light. A slight lift in the road happens and it was at this moment when the other car appeared.

It was either turning off North or coming from Peachtree Street, but was is certain is it appeared in the intersection, it was attempting to head north on Peachtree Street and it was completely in the wrong when my front bumper connected with the rear part of its passenger side.

The brake was engaged, otherwise we would have plowed straight through the intersection. But momentum is a moving thing and we moved enough to create the other car to buckle and swerve away from traffic and onto Peachtree.

I saw this through shattered glass tears, streaming away from my front bumper as we slowed down and pulled to the side of the road; essentially pulling up before The Windsor over Peachtree at 620 Peachtree Street, across the street from the aforementioned Bank of America building. I know this because I would be here for a while.

My hazards are on in this picture soon afterwards, but they would fade. My bumper would eventually be removed from its attachments, pulled free after the second police officer gave my owner the OK, in a failed attempt to move me on my own hours later. Like literally four hours later.

But I parked here right afterwards and he got out and returned to the scene, but I knew they were gone. My rear lights looked as the same intersection, the one where I escaped death just moments ago had returned to business as usual with cars driving over the parts of me I couldn’t keep with me. I could hear them breaking into smaller and smaller pieces as countless cars continue to drive by and drive over and ignore what just happened.

He returned in the same puzzled state he left, looking around and puzzled and was just as surprised a few minutes later when random strangers stopped by to observe me in my sad state.

They said they saw what happened, how the other car would have trouble moving and its wheel was turned all the way up. OK, they didn’t say that, but the music that once played had gone quiet and I longed for something. Something to change the mood and confusion. They left and he sat down and first called Faye; the hope to move me back to the shelter of the parking garage to avoid the rain that was sure to come. But before she could arrive, I overheard a conversation with his sister and involving the authorities. The constant fear of being blindsided by a MARTA bus was made real seemingly every 30 minutes since the bus station was a short jaunt away. And with that meant MARTA cops were ‘on the scene’.

But they weren’t here for me and it took him getting their attention for their advise. Unfortunately they could only kick it up the chain of command, meaning an actual Atlanta Police Department officer, so the wait continued as I stayed in the same spot. Maybe it was now when my battery died after searching for the mileage total for the insurance app to report the claim.

I hoped for roadside assistance, but could overhear how because this was an accident, it didn’t qualify for roadside assistance. It would be hours later that we would learn that the tow truck that is called since it was an accident was never contacted. Instead, we were forced to wait longer when the first driver didn’t have equipment to jump start the battery.

All the while I waited outside the Windsor, wondering about the trail of people walking the streets after midnight in the middle of the city. On this night, they were all dressed in free-flowing dresses and sweaters, t-shirts and some with balloons, inhaling then exhaling into the same sphere 🎈

It was an interesting evening, one that ended as they all do with a return home.

And to think, just 24 hours ago, I was sleeping peacefully and wondering if I would ever be used again…