At this writing, I'm not sure if I'll be going to Afton Station tomorrow. The weather predictions are pretty dire -- snow, ice, a plague of locusts..... well, snow and ice anyway. I'll wait 'til morning to decide.
Here's a little poem that might appeal to some of my older roadie readers. It certainly brings back memories for me.
No Matter How Far You Drive
by Louis Jenkins
I sat between Mamma and Daddy.
My sister sat on Mamma's lap.
Daddy drove. Fields, telephone poles....
I watched the sun go down.
"Never look straight at the sun,
it could ruin your eyes."
No matter how far you drive
you can't get to the sun.
I touched the pearly knob
of the gearshift lever
and felt the vibration in my fingers.
It made Daddy nervous.
"Never mess around with that.
You could ruin the car,
cause an accident."
It was dark, the sun gone to China.
Out there in the dark,
fourteen lights. I counted. Fourteen.
Rabbits ran in front of the car
from one black ditch to the other.
I didn't know where we were.
I could see the red light on the dashboard
and the light of Daddy's Lucky Strike
that broke into a million sparks behind us
when he threw it out the window.
"No Matter How Far You Drive" by Louis Jenkins, from All Tangled Up with the Living. © Nineties Press, 1991.
2 comments:
That sums up a childhood road trip pretty well, doesn't it?
Stay safe, Laurel. Sounds like some crummy weather coming your way!
Hugs, Beth
This morning here in Oklahoma City there's a little bit of snow on the ground. There was some sleet last night.
That poem sums up childhood trips with my parents pretty well. My parents took care of all of the worrying, and I just enjoyed the trip.
Now I'm the parent.
Oh well.
Hopefully, my two children will have some good memories like that when they're older.
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