So I Drove to Missouri the Other Day
I didn't intend to, at the beginning. I made some last-minute plans to spend the night near St Louis with a friend from Strasbourg, and along the way set up lunch with more friends from Zagreb. The Midwest is a great place to meet people who normally live far away!
Road trip! Thanks to my mom, who was here for a visit and stayed with the boys on her own. I listened to the radio for most of the 5 hours on the way there. NPR for the morning, through Indianapolis and over towards Effingham, then oldies after the Starbucks stop, a little Macklemore, and, as St Louis appeared, blues. KDHX 88.1 FM - I heard my favorite version of "Sunny Side of the Street" (Kermit Ruffins) that afternoon. I hadn't thought to expect blues in St Louis, until I realized that music likely flows up the Mississippi more strongly than in from the country. Memphis is not that far downstream.
I passed exits for Paris, IL, and Teutopolis. I wonder, was this named by Germans, or by Albanians? It could be Teutonic or full of women named Teuta! Oo, interesting history. Germans.
I love being on the road, reconnecting with friends, pulling out of drive-throughs with creamy fragrant drinks, discovering the world out there on Interstate 70. Coming home is just as good, to kids, Mom, cats, house, acreage to work. I spent 3 hours this morning pulling, scraping and yanking on weeds, grass, clover, sprucing and archeologizing,
then sat in the grass for a bit, sweaty and happily tired, with my work companions, Silverstein and June Bug. We watched yellow leaves rain from the black walnut trees, along with some thudding walnuts. (One hit my head last week - they're heavy!) I have friends who hate walnut trees, because of how they suck up all the water in the ground. I suppose if I were a real gardener, I would, too, but being just a play-gardener, I enjoy them. I like their shape, their leaves, how those leaves really do rain down in October. The cats, of course, try to catch them. I'm waiting for a walnut to hit one of their heads and knock them out.
Next road trip...Tennessee?? Anybody with me?
I passed exits for Paris, IL, and Teutopolis. I wonder, was this named by Germans, or by Albanians? It could be Teutonic or full of women named Teuta! Oo, interesting history. Germans.I love being on the road, reconnecting with friends, pulling out of drive-throughs with creamy fragrant drinks, discovering the world out there on Interstate 70. Coming home is just as good, to kids, Mom, cats, house, acreage to work. I spent 3 hours this morning pulling, scraping and yanking on weeds, grass, clover, sprucing and archeologizing,
then sat in the grass for a bit, sweaty and happily tired, with my work companions, Silverstein and June Bug. We watched yellow leaves rain from the black walnut trees, along with some thudding walnuts. (One hit my head last week - they're heavy!) I have friends who hate walnut trees, because of how they suck up all the water in the ground. I suppose if I were a real gardener, I would, too, but being just a play-gardener, I enjoy them. I like their shape, their leaves, how those leaves really do rain down in October. The cats, of course, try to catch them. I'm waiting for a walnut to hit one of their heads and knock them out.
Next road trip...Tennessee?? Anybody with me?
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