Notes from the Road: Driving East

Notes from the Road: Driving East June 29, 2016

If it’s Wednesday, we must be going to drive somewhere. Pretty sure it’s east. Straight east. Going to try to get out of Portland so that tomorrow we can just push desperately across and try not to think about anything.

I’ve filled dozens and dozens and dozens of ziplock bags full of food, and my very kind uncle has cleaned my car, much to my total humiliation and shame, but also gratitude.

Drug the children into Multnomah Village to prove that I really did work as a waitress at Fat City because Look! There it is! Bought them candy so that they’ll love Portland, and Oregon and everything.

Its been so so fantastically wonderful to lay eyes on everyone and just smile, and even say, “how have you been”. I really can’t wait another ten years to get all the way back here. Do kind of wish the continent were just maybe ten hours shorter. But don’t really want California to fall off into the ocean, so never mind.

Have also loved my internet rest. Can’t stumble my way towards Facebook to catch up on anything. Can’t do more than read headlines in the evening. Don’t have any moments to worry about the bad things that are happening way out there. The only human pathos I can attend to is the fact of shoving tired, belligerent children back into the car and telling them to Please. Stop. Whining. Please. Just this once. They are so ready to be home. One of them keeps bursting into tears. Another one keeps getting hurt. Another one is insecure and anxious looking. And yet another is stepping high wide and lively with her entitlement and her unicorn-ness. It’s time to return to order and boredom and go look at the same things every day again for many many months.

 


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