Last week, on Friday, July 13, my car Tom Collins and I (technically) celebrated our one-year anniversary. I “bought” him a year ago, although that sounds so trashy to say it like that. I like to think he CHOSE to be with me. Regardless, I was so distracted by our trip to Houston and Dallas that I COMPLETELY forgot about our important day. (So sorry, Tom.) Normally I’m stellar with dates and anniversaries, but in this case, I’m THAT guy.

Thankfully, Tom isn’t the type to hold a grudge.

Or maybe he is.

A few months ago, Tom’s “check engine” light came on. It’s a long story (which I’ve already told), but I ended up having his spark plugs replaced, and the light went off. But some days it will come on for maybe an hour or two, at most a day, then go off again. My mechanic said, “Don’t be concerned.” Well, on THE VERY MORNING of our anniversary, just as I was leaving Houston, that damned yellow light came on again. This time, Tom was kind of shuddering, which is what happened when this problem originally popped up. It’s like he was saying, “Hey, asshole, aren’t you forgetting something?”

Of course, I still didn’t remember.

Instead, I pulled over and turned off Tom’s engine. (Calm down, darling.) Then I started it back up, and the shuddering stopped. The light, however, has been on ever since. My family and I are leaving town in a few days to see my sister in Albuquerque, and since I’ve been needing an oil change anyway, I figured I could have everything–the oil and the engine light–looked at and taken care of at once. But since I’ve been doing odd jobs for some friends this week, I haven’t had time to attend to these matters.

Again, so sorry, Tom. Please forgive me.

Miraculously, the light went off yesterday, and my dad–thank God for fathers–arranged to have Tom’s oil changed and everything inspected. So last night I dropped Tom off at the shop a few blocks from our house and walked home, looking for stars the whole time. The constellation Pegasus is up after midnight or one, and it’s pretty easy to spot. It’s a huge square in the east, and I like it because it contains a star named Scheat (Beta Pegasi), which is probably pronounced “sheet,” but I pronounce “SHEE-AT.” (As in, Scheat, I forgot my anniversary.) If you’re looking at the screenshot below (from the Stellarium app), Scheat is the bright corner star just to the left of the label “Pegasus.”

This morning (well, afternoon), when I woke up, Tom Collins was ready to go. My dad had coordinated with the shop, and they’d done a clean-up for Tom’s insides. I’m not good with automobiles, but I’m picturing a car colon cleanse, something that flushes all the gunk out. Anyway, when Dad and I went to the shop to pick Tom up, the guy said the flush should take care of the engine light issue and that we were “all set” to go to Albuquerque.

Now it’s time for me to do more odd jobs. Most likely, I’ll be up late tonight–like Pegasus–then up early again tomorrow. The next few days promise to be a whirlwind. But this is life. Some days we rest, and there’s nothing to do. Other days it’s go-go-go. We forget anniversaries. Scheat happens. Meanwhile the stars slowly and calmly make their way through the heavens. One day rising and the next day falling, they don’t make a big deal about any of it.