I wrote about my current writing space not too long ago, and I’d noted before that that I’d done a fair bit of writing sitting in the front seat of a 2012 Ford Focus as my daughter, Ms. 8, practiced tap, jazz, and cheer. While it might have been the case that I’d not done much writing in the latter location for a while, I’d still been spending a fair bit of time in that front seat, and I’d anticipated getting to do so for a while yet, perhaps even returning to writing from there. Alas, such is not to be!

On 10 March 2022, as I was driving from Johnson City to Kerrville, I went through Fredericksburg, Texas. It’s a common enough thing, and Friendship Lane had been a road I’d often taken on that route; it was not a strange thing, then, that I did so again. Nor was it terribly unusual that there was a truck pulling a trailer along that road, nor yet that such a truck might slow down and signal that it was going to turn right onto South Milam from Friendship, moving from the through-street onto one that had a stop sign at the intersection. Nor still was it strange that a car–say, a red 2012 Ford Focus–would signal a lane-change and move into the left lane to pass the slowing vehicle, as was indeed what happened between 8 and 8:15 that morning.

It wasn’t an uncommon occurrence that a white Toyota 4Runner had been stopped at the stop sign on South Milam where it Ts into Friendship Lane, while the latter has no signs and remains a through street at that location. Nor was it uncommon that said 4Runner signaled a left turn, meaning to pull out from the stop sign onto the through street, and, its driver seeing that no traffic was coming from the right and that the truck coming from the left was slowing and signaling for its own turn, began to make that left turn. And perhaps it was not too uncommon a thing that a small car would be hidden from view by a larger vehicle pulling a trailed.

It was damned unusual, though, that the 4Runner suddenly emerged into oncoming traffic from a signed stop, and that said oncoming traffic–a red 2012 Ford Focus–could not stop in time to keep from hitting the 4Runner. The latter vehicle suffered some minor damage to its driver’s side, behind both doors on that side; it was driven off to a nearby parking lot, where its driver was cited for failure to yield the right of way. The former vehicle, however…the picture tells the story.

Its driver ended up being alright. Despite a trip to the local emergency room, the extent of injury to that driver was some minor bruising where the seatbelt had done its job. But the car…as of this writing, the insurance report is still forthcoming, but a car isn’t going to do well without a front end or a cooling system. It’s the kind of thing that prompts the word “total,” really–which is a damned shame. I’d liked not having a car payment…

I’m going to need a new car. Let me know what all you need written below, and we’ll talk about what I can do for you to help me get that–or you can send along your support!