I know a strange question.

I was 22 and about to be married when I got my first car. As a part of a couple, I helped make several car purchasing decisions. Then, after my marriage ended, I bought my first car on my own.

When I was 16 and wanted my permit, my mother – I didn’t even live with my mother – wanted me to learn to change a tire and the car’s oil. My stepfather, even though I didn’t own a car and the car at my grandmother’s was an automatic, taught me to drive stick. It did come in handy later in life – three on the column when I worked a summer job with the Department of Environmental Conservation.

My 19 year old daughter has a car. I am not sure she should. She is now messing with the battery connection. She rigs up all kinds of things to make the car go. It disturbs me to no end. It worries me also. She doesn’t take care of it and she doesn’t know what really makes it work. Maintenance is not a word she understands.

I have tried to explain oil changes, belt replacement, windshield wiper replacement. I don’t think she gets it. So, does having a driver’s license mean you should own a car?

I am not a city girl. I love living in the setting I do. I am even outside of town and town is a small upstate village. I do have neighbors that I can see their homes but no sidewalks, sometimes no plows in a storm for hours. It doesn’t bother me at all.

There are, though, two cities that I love. I am talking huge cities. One is on the east coast and I will get to that one but the other is on the west coast and is on TV today. San Francisco is one of my favorite cities in the US.

The CBS Early Show – my morning background noise today – has its weather person on Pier 39. Seeing that brought back such memories. I was starting my second trimester with my second pregnancy. I had just turned 25 and found out on my 25th birthday that the pregnancy was twins! The trip to California was to visit my mom and stepdad but also included a day in San Francisco and a drive up the coast to Washington.

When The Early Show started talking about Pier 39 (evidently 10 million people visit Pier 39 a year), I went right to the photo haven here at home. I pulled out two pics from the 1986 trip.

This was a trip full of memories – a ring made from a pearl I picked out of the oyster on the pier (my mom said, and probably still would say, very touristy), a boat trip and walking tour of Alcatraz (they were concerned about me walking the tour as it is a steep incline and I looked more than starting my fourth month), cable car rides, dinner on the Bay.

What a city!