Sunday, October 12, 2008

back on the bus ...

It is good to be back in Missouri.

Jubilee and I rolled in here yesterday afternoon, buzzed by 2 days of blessedly uneventful driving. The same car that I said, last July, would never see Florida again, made it to Florida and then back to Missouri again - more that 2400 miles. The a/c worked the whole time.

The first day of driving is the hardest – the flatness of Florida is followed by a frantic chase on I-75 through Georgia. My sister had recommended that I pick up some books-on-tape to make the long driving easier, so I got Barack Obama’s “Dreams of My Father”. Obama, himself, reads it. Listening to the book was the best part of the long, boring-yet-tense, day. I don't know how anyone can say that they don't know who Obama is after reading this book. I am left confident that we are about to elect one of our wisest and brightest presidents. He has done his homework and he is one of us.

By the 2nd day we were driving across Tennessee Mountains and the farms of western Kentucky. The roads are much less hectic, and the autumn colors exhilarate and calm as the land rolls on and on. I wish that I had taken some photos, but when you're driving, you're driving and there's not much time for anything else. We knew were headed in the right direction.

The time in Florida was hassled. Under the care of a pool service (Crystal Blue Pools - don't even consider using them), our swimming pool had turned into a mosquito infested pond of algae. Between cleaning and worrying over the pool, I had doctors appointments and a few computer appointments where I picked up some pocket change. I think I got the pool problem straightened out, and the reports from the doctors were pretty good. The breast cancer that I had last year shows no sign of returning.

Besides all that, this is my least favorite time of year in Florida. The weather is yukky – dank and dark with no real breeze. Our house felt empty and lonely.

But I did get to see many of my friends, whose love is dearer to me than time or distance can ever erase.

While I was away John visited the Museum of Transportation in St. Louis. This was a place he knew that I would never be interested in seeing :-). I promised him that I would add his photos to the Center of America collection in Flickr.

Eric is coming to visit on Wednesday! Lots of fun adventures coming. Supposed to be cold and autumn-y.

3 comments:

Sally Clay said...

It's good to hear the news that your medical examinations all went well. Also, I hope you have a good visit with Eric this week. Will this be his first visit to Missouri? Now, back to WordScraper!

Barbara said...

Welcome back to center where all the extremes meet -- a line from John Updike that haunted me while I was living in Missouri.
Delighted to hear that the medical news was positive.
I should read(/listen to) that book.

beth cioffoletti said...

Thanks, Sally and Barbara.

Yes, this is Eric's first visit to Missouri.

They say that the caterpillars are black this year, and that means a cold winter. My down jacket is more than 30 years old, and I'm depending on it to keep me warm this year! This should be interesting.