After 16 years, it was time for a new car. With 86,000 or so miles, my Malibu was still in good condition.  But I’ve begun to drive to Chicago more frequently and the time had come to have a car with iPhone interface capabilities, a back-up camera, and other safety features that didn’t exist back in 2009.

I love my new Chevy Trax. It’s cute; it’s small; it’s peppy. Given my love of the Southwest and the fact that my license plate references Arizona’s red rocks, there was no other color for me but Cacti Green. I even went on Etsy to find the perfect decal of a blossoming prickly pear cactus to affix to the gas cap door. Elliot was in town with the girls when the car arrived. Olivia and Leah came with Martin and me to the dealership. When I brought the car home, they clambered in and out of it for a few minutes before declaring it was way cool.

On this most recent visit with the girls, Olivia told me she made something special for me at art camp. After breakfast she had me close my eyes and hold out my hands. She placed something cool, heavy and rounded in my outstretched palm. I opened my eyes to this beautiful rock.  Without ever having seen it herself, Oivia somhow rendered the brilliant red-orange-copper glow the rocks take on at sunset. A few random drips of purple (happy mistakes) remind me of the violet streaks of cloud that we sometimes see before the sun slips behind the mountains. The rock fits perfectly in my hand. I declared it way cool and got mushy with my thank yous.

What is so special about Olivia’s gift is that she created it for me in honor of my love of red rock hiking. Olivia gets me as much as I get her. She hasn’t come hiking with us yet but I hope to remedy that soon. I can’t wait to make a red rock girl out of her, too.