Why is it both so tempting to make some idiotic Wizard of Oz comment and so utterly clear that it is just too goofy for words? Aha. Fooled you. Now you can think the phrase while I send hellos from yet another (yes another!) Holiday Inn Express, this time in Western Kansas. I am so far driving smart. This time I prayerfully consider stopping when I am very tired, unlike the olden daze when I would motor along in a completely altered state of phasey dissociation before thinking, 'hey, it's 11 pm, I've been driving for 14 hours, like, wow....' My birthday is this Saturday. Enough already for midlife!
My long weekend retreat at St. Benedict's Monastery in Snowmass, Colorado was so heart-expanding and head chatter-quieting that all I can do - and in fact, with huge excitement - is to say, please, check out the photos. I can't find the words right now. Drink in this place. Those of you with an eagle eye will also see a change in the URL. Apple is busy shifting .Mac to "Mobile Me." I have no idea why. But be on the lookout for future email address confusion.
My photo gallery of St. Benedict's is HERE
I'm torn between sharing insights and foolishness. I'll settle by offering a dollop of the mundane: There is no gas crisis in Colorado. You wouldn't believe the number of spaceship-sized SUVs and trucks that went blazing past me and my 4-door 2003 Honda Civic LX as we went a top speed of 70 mph. I made a mental note to not only return to St. Benedict's but to explore the Glenwood Canyon and Glenwood Springs in particular. Wanting to hang in something called the Vapor Caves is particularly appealing. It is gob-smackingly beautiful in this part of the world. And I only had to stop myself 4-5 times from mentally cooing John Denver tunes. (I'm not joking). In 12-Step land we say 'some are sicker than others'.....
Gasoline costs vary, for those of you curious. I filled my car at $4.48/gallon in some high-falutin' Rockies Conoco before sighing at the collection of later stations boasting $4.09 for regular unleaded. I'm topping off this morning for $3.98. It is amazing what my chipmunk mind can attach to.... look, 35-cents cheaper! Hello? My Prius-envy however is being assuaged by finding that, with sensible road speeds of around 68 mph and cruise control (Thank You God for cruise control), I've been getting 44-46 mpg with the a/c on. Whoa!
Of course I know people who would've walked or bicycled across country, so I'll be quiet now.
I have no GPS or weather-tracking devices in my car but when I see thunderclouds looming unlike anything Berkeley has shown, I call my friends. "Any tornadoes?" I tuned in to the local radio stations but the one I found spoke of putting on your snow chains early.
To Salina! My friend Carlisle's book "The Coyote Oak" is linked below. It's been, what, 13 years? We met 30 years ago at Cal's Corral in the South Bay of Southern California. Some friendships stick and I am grateful this one has.
3 comments:
Diane....Thank you for the commentary as you journey along. Love you, be safe.
Barbara Alexander
say hello to the radio beacon at Salina for me !
many a happy hour tracking it !
your UK pilot friend !
Regarding the radio beacon, you are evidently in good company with the likes of John Travolta and Paris Hilton. I knew you got around! Who'd-a-thought this was a major corporate jet pass-through ('cause you don't really want to stick around after you fuel up) in the center of the Universe?
Post a Comment