In A Big Country #4

I have spent some time in central, and south, Texas. Northern Texas is a different animal. The canyons and mesa that decorate the high desert, run from New Mexico, to the northwest edge of this huge state. It flows into a transition of grass and graineries. Once again, we were running from a sunset, toward Amarillo. There were dark skies behind us, and a good light show ahead. I was looking for the Cadillac Ranch, when I noticed all the grass going horizontal. It was blowning from left to right, and a dust devil was forming, in the field opposite us. A cluster of tumbleweeds, a box, and assorted other flotsam, crossed in front of us, at a high rate of speed. Davey was in a grappling match with the steering wheel. A tractor trailer went from the fast lane, to the emergency lane, in one impossible maneuver. We came out from under the front, and decided we should exceed the speed limit for a little while, ozone, and crude prices be damned.

Other than that, the rest of the trip was a montage of diet Pepsi, waffle houses, gas stations and fighting to stay awake, during our shifts.






The day light found us in Hattiesburg Mississippi. We were seven hours from home.


I spent the rest of the ride reminiscing. How could all of this have happened with no notice, and in three days? I thought about John, and how he had made decisions to get off the merry-go-round. He found what he always wanted. I thought about the Grand Canyon, and how a view changed my priorities. I thought about Route 66, and how things change with or without acceptance. This trip proved what I have always known but, had brushed aside. It's all out there, you just have to go see it. Great trips, like great art, should change the way you see things forever.

Mission accomplished.

W.B.Z.N.