Free and easy down the road I go

wow I feel like I've fallen off the face of the earth and I hate it. when did the Internet become my one and only lifeline? when did I develop a kind of anxiety in not being able to look at facebook or scan e-mail over and over? grr technology! I will not submit!

so, current town? North Muskegon. In the last week I've gone from Branson to Carbondale, Carbondale to Arcola, Arcola to North Muskegon (Tessa, I'm thinking of you!). *whew!* the drives are getting shorter but seem longer and the more often I hit the road, the more it hits me that I'm going to have to drive all that way back to Texas. and that whole thing about distance making the heart grow fonder? well it's not working the way I'd hoped. I don't wanna go back! :(

it was rough at the family meeting/reunion last weekend dealing with the "what are you doing?" questions. I just want to be done with school and in the work force! I want it to be next April so the clock would be ticking just a little bit faster for me to hurry up and figure out what my next move is. I don't wanna be in grad school for some obscure degree! wah wah wah! :P

hmm, bright side? fun drives. I love the time to myself, which probably explains my lack of doing...anything. here I have my Huck Finn on tape that I've been trudging through all summer, that still has five discs left. I have a cell phone with hands-free options to call friends and check up. but unfortunately my driving has fallen during times when it's not good to call (Sunday morning when good people are in church), back roads where reception is minimal, or during the weekday when it's not as cheap as after 9pm or weekends. so, it's just been me and the music. I especially love finding radio stations and giving the predictable CDs a rest.

oh, highlight of driving so far? DEFFinitely the drive up yesterday is ranked up pretty high. my parents suggested this back route detour of chicago through northwestern Indiana. after surviving torential (sp?) rains in Illinois where I could hardly see the end of my own car, I drove through the pretty countryside that Texas lacks in IN. I stopped in Kouts, IN, where they had George's Kountry Kitchen (or Koffee Kup? not sure). it was a perfect little town diner where everyone knows everyone else. I sat at the lunch counter and ordered a not-so-great chicken salad on croissant.

halfway through my sandwich, this old man sat next to me. he had to be pushing 90 years old but had a spark like a man in his prime. he had delivered some of his home-grown corn to the diner and was picking up a meal for himself. he told me he got Meals on Wheels, but it got lonely so he came to town to chat with folks. I gathered that his wife had died within the last few years, and that he'd been a farmer all his life. born and raised in Indiana (I presume), he regretted that he hadn't travelled more. he told me that he had gotten to go to Switzerland once and said the lake near Zurich was one of the clearest bodies of water he'd ever seen. when he had finished his Mr. Pibb he got up to leave, departing with the words, "Have a nice life!" it was perfect. :)



can't see how I can top that, so I'll get off for now.