2026 Chevy Equinox - Balance, Renewal, & Transition

2026 Chevy Equinox

An Equinox symbolizes balance, renewal, and transition.  Occurring twice a year when the sun crosses the celestial equator, it is a cosmic threshold when day and night are of about equal length. The word "equinox" comes from the Latin words aequus (equal) and nox (night). Because day and night perfectly share dominion, it acts as a reminder of the delicate equilibrium in the universe. It symbolizes the need to harmonize dualities like light and dark, action and rest, or the masculine and feminine energies within.  It encourages us to seek balance in our lives, both internally and externally. It is a time of reflection and Renewal. 

I am a Master Gardener who connects with the natural world. Gardening begins in the spring for the most part. The Spring (Vernal) Equinox is the time for rebirth and new beginnings.  Taking place in March, this equinox is universally viewed as the awakening of the earth. As plants break through the frost and winter thaws, it represents shedding the old and embracing a fresh start. Historically, agricultural societies revered this time for planting crops, which over time evolved into symbols of vitality and new ideas.  The Autumn (Fall) Equinox is the time for harvest and reflection. Taking place in September, this equinox occurs as the days begin to shorten. It is a time to reap the rewards of the seeds you planted earlier in the year.  As trees shed their leaves, the autumn equinox encourages us to release what no longer serves us and practice gratitude for what we have cultivated.

I am in a time of Transition. I recently had to let go of my 2011 Chevy Impala that served me well until a man named Ron at my Silver Sneakers class at the Health Department backed into the front of my car in the parking lot with his pickup truck and totaled my car.  I really liked that car that I had for 15 years.  I had planned to get a new one in the next year or two but this event happened now.  It has been an easy transition since no one was hurt and I got a good settlement with an above average condition salvage value.  Ron's State Farm insurance company treated me well although I have been without my own vehicle for about a month; they did cover the cost of a rental car for seven days.  My normal freedom to drive wherever and whenever I wanted was interrupted but I utilized this time to mostly garden and write about it as it is the 40th anniversary living at this location.  Check out my past eight posts if you like gardening too.  I had fun documenting my gardens as I finished the work and it makes a great journal. All our structural landscape projects were complete last year and May and June are when the plants are at their finest.  I know they are truly done as we have sold the concrete mixer this week!

So before I transition into a new vehicle, I am reflecting on all my past vehicles and sharing the photos.  I have already decided on the 2026 Chevy Equinox from Bill Robert's Chevrolet in Bolivar. I had driven a couple while I had the rental car recently. I have a lot of history with this car dealer especially with Brent Coleman who always seems to know what I want because he listens to me and gives me good advice.  He sold me my past three vehicles and also a nice truck for my husband. The dealership also does most of my maintenance, repairs, and body work over the years.  I also have some history with Eric and Joe Roberts whom I have worked with in my appraisal career and they helped me attain my General Certification by giving me commercial real estate experiences I would not have had without them.  I returned the favor by helping them in their appraisal business with comparable market sales obtained as a state appraiser.  There was no monetary payment for services as we equally exchanged skills and experience instead. I was highly successful as a state appraiser for 30 years as I was good at negotiating an equitable value after carefully assimilating all the available data and being able to defend it.  It's all about Balance.  The Equinox suits me.

I did my research and the Equinox is what I want at this time of life. I will match the Impala's salvage settlement with my savings for the downpayment.  The monthly payment is covered by my social security and RMD; about half and half.  It's been over 25 years since I've had monthly car payments. I'm more than ready for a new vehicle!  It is time for a Renewal.

In my research, I realized that there may be better vehicles on the market rated for reliability, better gas milage and/or the electric options, sellers with better deals, and going the pre-owned options which would cost less.  What's important to me at that at this time of life is that I can afford to trade-in when the value is at the highest in about three years and not have to worry about breakdowns or repair expenses. I like buying new.  I enjoy driving and this Equinox is fun to drive now.  

2011 Chevy Impala after parking lot accident - a total loss in May 2026.  It served me well!

2011 Chevy Impala bought in October 2011 (program car) - I paid all cash when I retired 12/1/11.  Good road car and fun to drive!   Trailer hitch was added for kayaking and bicycling which I did regularly.  I did a lot of volunteer work with Master Gardeners and Master Naturalists at Lake of the Ozarks with road trips to Iowa and Virginia. I also enjoyed driving it with my one and only grandchild who was born in 2017 and lives over an hour away. I got to see her often; about every ten days until she started school.  Lots of great memories in this car!  Only problem was when the transmission fell out and was replaced. I kept it in above average condition for 15 years.  It made an annoying clicking sound (woodpecker) in the heating/AC that only lasted a minute that I had made peace with for the last few years because it would have cost over $500 to fix.

1997 Pontiac Grand Prix (1997-2011) was my favorite. Mostly paid for by the state as I was reimbursed for mileage in my appraiser work.  When it was paid for, the state got a fleet of cars and I drove a different one every year for work so this one lasted longer for personal use. I liked a Chevy Impala best and drove many different ones assigned to me. The 2nd transmission finally died and it started burning oil.  Lots of Branson trips through the Ozark Mountains.  Many adventures with a bike rack on back with many trips to the east coast through the Smokey Mountains and the the Outer Banks.

1987 Pontiac 6000LE (1987-1999).  Completely paid for by the state with monthly milage reimbursements as I used it all the time for my appraiser work as well as personal use.  I think I made money on it!   Both my teenagers had it until it was donated to Salvation Army in 2000.  Kept a roll of grey duct tape in the glove box for repairs.  It was still drivable and only leaked oil a little.  A really great car!

1985 Pontiac 600 LE (1985-1987) First car I bought with milage reimbursements from the state in my job as an appraiser which I started in 1984.  My husband and 5 year old daughter were hit and the car was totaled after two years; they were okay.  I bought another car like this one.  

1979 CJ7 Golden Eagle Jeep (1979-1992) was my first new car.  I got a seasonal job for a couple years working for the Army Corps of Engineers on Pomme de Terre Lake doing cleaning and maintenance at eight public parks. Driving a stick may have helped me get the job as I drove a truck with a water tank in this job everyday. My parents helped me make my monthly payment on the off season months. We lived on a remote 50 acres with a dead end county gravel road. I was pregnant twice while I had this Jeep. I rolled it after hydroplaning in a rainstorm on a curve with my infant son in a carseat in 1981; we were okay.  It was fixed.  It was rode hard and even used to plow a field once.  My husband drove it shortly after I got my state appraiser job in 1985 and we moved to town; the county seat where he worked.  I had appraised all 10K properties in Hickory County with this Jeep during statewide reassessment (1979-1984). I must have impressed the State Tax Commission as my work load was cut in half and my salary doubled when they hired me to monitor the assessment offices in at least 10 counties biannually.  I progressed and became the manager retiring after 30 years as a real estate appraiser. I sold the Jeep while it was still working as it was expensive to keep up (tires mostly) and starting to leak oil. 

1968 AMC Rebel (1973-1978) First car I bought all by myself as a waitress and bartender then a factory worker making Zenith TV parts and then bluejeans.  It had a V-8 and was a really good road car.  Replaced the rear bumper with a steel I-beam after hitting a skunk and not able to get the stink off.  The main frame broke in half while crossing a railroad track in Onawa, Iowa one winter when the temp was well below zero.  It was taken to the salvage yard and smashed just before we moved to Missouri.

1966 Ford Mustang (1969-1972). My father bought a red one for me when I was 16 while still at home in Northern Virginia.  I was working the concessions at a movie theater to pay for my expenses and also at a department store called Zayre on a school work program. This is a stock photo as I did not have a photo taken of my car.  When I got the car, it was a barely drivable wreck with chipped paint in many places that showed several different panels had been replaced.  It burned a lot of oil.  The hoses and belts were always breaking.  The radiator was always getting too hot.  I was always breaking down and accepting help from strangers.  I hitchhiked a lot.  I even panhandled in Georgetown and the National Airport for money.  One memorable time I broke down in front of the White House on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, DC and stopped traffic while people helped me push it off the street. I abandoned it at my home with my parents when I moved to the mid-west in 1971 at age 17 emancipated and living with my oldest brother, Ed.  I was working two jobs at the Gotcha Cafe and Harris Drug while finishing my senior year in high school as well as babysitting my niece and nephew to earn my keep. My parents had became incapacitated and needed my older brother, John, to get a hardship discharge from the Marines to care for them.  I think the Mustang was sold to a neighborhood boy.  I wish I had better memories of this car at this time of my life.  Life got so much better after I moved to the mid-west!

In a few hours, I will be picking up my new ride.  I will get busy with life again resuming my Sliver Sneakers routine four days a week while keeping my eye out for Ron.  Fridays are swimming and working out at the gym at the Rec Center in Bolivar.  This Saturday I will join several yogi friends I've known for many years for a yoga class in Springfield with Loa, a career instructor I have known since the 1990s.  I will pick up our granddaughter in my new blue Equinox (her favorite color) in Springfield Monday to stay with us for her 9th birthday week.  Life goes on.

Plans will be made in the following weeks for a trip to see my niece's family in Colorado in October. I haven't seen her since her wedding ten years ago and she has two children I need to meet. Cousins from the Czech Republic and my brother from Virginia will be there and likely other family members. I expect my husband's heart surgery to go well in August as we just got that date set yesterday.  The option of driving or flying will be determined upon his recovery later this summer. If he stays home, his cousins from Iowa have agreed to stay with him until I come back.  I may fly instead of driving by myself. This trip has been in the works for a couple of years. It is fortunate that the option of a road trip in my new Equinox is now an option!  

All is well.  Life is good.  Moving forward in a nice set of wheels!