Friday, December 4, 2009

Safe and sound and uneventful

Starting my trip of nearly 1800 miles with my cell phone, its Blue Tooth wireless piece, my GPS, my Kindle and my satellite radio, I felt quite modern and technologically "with it". I will say that my satellite radio was everything I had hoped for. Those vast miles of windswept sand and sagebrush in the northern parts of Oklahoma, New Mexico and Texas are much better endured in the company of NPR, a few symphonies, an occasional sports update on Tiger Woods' infidelities and some real jazz. Time passes much faster that way.

I almost regretted getting a room with a king sized bed in Oklahoma City. My cousin was out of town, so I was left on my own. There was so much room for all seven of us (six small canines and myself) that the next night they couldn't settle down in that relatively tiny queen sized bed in Albuquerque. All night one or two of them was either jumping off or jumping onto the bed, going under or coming out panting from under the blanket and occasionally suggesting by a tap of the toenails that it was time to go outside for a little fresh evening air.

I have never driven across Oklahoma without understanding the full meaning of the theme song of the movie of the same name. After enduring 202 miles of the truly strong and gusty winds across Okla and Texas, I laughed when a sign loomed warning of strong winds for the next 9.9 miles. Thanks, I thought, for the warning. And, no, the winds in that stretch were neither as strong nor as gusty as the previous 200 plus miles had been.

I reluctantly decided not to stop at the Jesus is the Lord rest stop, although the thought of being surrounded by the Lord in that special place along the highway did give me pause. All those huge trailers with these words splashed along their sides would surely give one a sense of security, would they not? Could it have been a truly blessed place, and had I irreverently passed up a blessed opportunity? Probably not.

My good fortune arrived at my driving up to familiar home here in Phoenix and settling in to enjoy the sunshine and the relatively warm weather. We're not exactly sunbathing here today, but a good, vigorous walk to and around the park have left me renewed and ready to tackle anew the vexing problem of how to direct my emails to Outlook through Cox Cable. Once that challenge is overcome, I shall head out to Costco for a supply of foods to keep me at home for meals in spite of the great eating places that surround me here. Those tempting calorie havens helped me to gain 15 pounds last year, a weakness I hope to overcome this year.

2 comments:

  1. Welcome home(?)
    I have been thinking of you these last few days, I'm glad you have arrived safe and sound.
    It is 12 degrees out right now and there is a dusting of snow on the ground. You got out just in time.
    Meredith

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  2. Yeah! So glad you made it safely to your Arizona home.
    Enjoy the warmth and sunshine for all of us up here in the cold and dark.
    Sometimes I can't believe I chose to live here. :)

    Take care and keep in touch.
    Cate

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