I got a wild hare and decided to make a trip alone back east so I can have Thanksgiving with my family there. Also I plan to stop and visit some friends along the way. Some of them have computers so I can update my blog! You aren't getting rid of me that easily!
I love to travel but I haven't done much lately due to health issues. I don't know whether my health is really up to this trip but I guess I will find out. At least I got my flu shot. I don't plan to get sick on the road. Driving relaxes me. I put on my 1960's & 1970's rock music and drive on, rather oblivious. For some reason I hardly ever get lost either. That is good because I can't afford the gas I am going to be using, much less the gas to get lost wandering around some State or Province. But life comes first. Money is a secondary concern.
Being from Arizona, I rarely have to wear heavy outerwear. But I do have some cold weather attire. More importantly, I haven't driven in snow for years. I hope I remember how, or I get a lucky break in the weather department. This is where global warming could be real helpful, do you hear me you atmosphere up there? It is 80 degrees here today.
When I was a child my family used to take vacations to New York's Adirondack Mountains and to Cape Cod and Maryland on the coast. These were most exciting days for me. I think that is why I love to travel. I've met some interesting people along the way too. I'll never forget these friendly folks in White Pine, Tennessee who gave shelter to me, my girlfriend and her horse (!) one night. They didn't know us from Adam but they gave us a vacant mobile home to rest in and a full hot southern breakfast in the morning. Wouldn't take a dime for it. All they asked is for a postcard from New Mexico so they were sure we made it to our destination all right. We did get there ok even though neither of us could back up the horse trailer with any skill. (I can do it a little better now.)
People who live more than 50 miles from your home are markedly different than you. Maybe it is the angle of the sun, but they live and talk and have a way of living that is different. I find these changes fascinating. I have two doctors in a city 130 miles from my home and everytime I see them I see they have a whole different pattern or design to their lives that is distinct from mine and not just because of their profession and that I am their patient and that they have scads of money compared to me. It must be the angle of the sunlight again. Of course there are plenty of people within 50 miles of me who are very different from me, but they can relate to the view of the mountains that we each see every day. From experience my neighbors know about the cost of food here, the color of the police cars, how long the signal light is at the corner by the post office, when the wind starts to blow how the dirt from unplanted fields will fill the air, that our valley "snow" is cotton, etc. These are examples of the patterns of our lives, unique to us, foreign to outsiders. I am going to explore outside my familiar pattern, seek out people who have a design to their lives totally different from mine. But we will get along famously. Because I believe all people should be treated with respect. And I like to see that sun at different angles.
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