My Forester Fairy Tale

The first time somebody admired my car I was getting out of it at Vulcan Video. This guy said 'nice car' and I looked around, mildly surprised to find a late twenties dude with beard and tight jeans starring at my forester. 'It's soooooo boxy' he said borderline lustily. That was the first time I had any inkling that there were Forester admirers and lovers out there. I've definitely really liked the car since the moment I got it secondhand. It always seemed to be able to hold whatever crazy things I was lugging to TX from PA (skis, bikes, chest of drawers, etc.)

When I moved into the house on Nickerson St. in Austin back in '05, my housemate Laura, knowledgeable on all things lesbian, informed me that her and Mandi (our other housie) thought I might be a Lesbian because I didn't have a boyfriend and drove a Subaru Forester. It's almost ridiculous how many references there are to the Forester-Lesbian connection:

1. Subaru Gay Ad Campaign
2. Top Lesbian Cars
3. The term Lesbaru

Mine is a white, 1998 model. I'm pretty sure Foresters entered the US market in 1998, so I'm inclined to think mine is first generation. I'm pretty proud of the car to be totally honest. I decided about a year ago, after making some expensive repairs (not that this is common, because it's not), that this car and I were partners for the length of its life. So I'm trying to rehab it. In the spirit of not leading a disposable life, coupled with my recent unemployment (thus extra time and less money) and my unfairly beating it up for about 6-7 years, I really want to restore it to its former glory.

Step one was going to the dealership to get some glacier white Subaru paint to patch a few chips. It was at the Subaru dealership in Austin that I met a fantastic oracle or Subaruness. I was waiting at the counter for a quote on new mud flaps and a dog guard for the back seat when the guy behind me asked me if I had a forester. I turned around to see a tall, thin, late twenties male in tight jeans (Deja vu?). He asked which one was mine. We couldn't see it from where we were standing so I just told him it was a white '98.

'Wow that's the best color', he said.
'Really, wow?', I said.
'You know', he said lowering his voice and eyeing the dealership parts guy, 'There are websites where you can get parts really cheap. Like have you been to subaruforester.org? They've got great prices.'
'No I haven't. Oh my god that's awesome!', I said.
'And I saw a dog guard on craigslist for a 2000 model but I bet it'll fit. Do you ever look on there?'
'Well not for car parts...but I guess I should though.', I said.

It went on like that for awhile. Eventually I paid for my paint, we exchanged e-mail addresses and he told me to go take a look at his forester; he had just finished recovering his seats with a leather kit he got online for $55. A few days later he e-mailed me a bunch of links and said to stay in touch. It was very much a car fairy tale for me and I feel emboldened to do a bunch of special things to my ride.