MY FIRST LOVE AFFAIR WITH A CAR

A 1949 Dodge sedan, bought used and brought home with pride by my dad one lovely San Francisco summer evening.  The back seat was a huge overstuffed mohair sofa-like area that dwarfed my sister and I when we went for our first ride.  I’ll never forget leaning my cheek on the side window and looking up at the clear night sky as my dad circled Twin Peaks that evening.  Also memorable were the times that Dad let me help him wash the car, parked in front of our rented hillside apartment that was on the third floor of a tall Victorian on Alpine Terrace, just north of the Castro and up the hill from Haight Street.