so i'm back on the map (though still not quite on the grid).
hello my friends, i've missed you all.
I am stealing internet from some business south of Chicago on my way to michigan. got up real early after camping in southeast iowa last night and got back on the road. please FORGIVE me for neglecting to write, as i have been back in civilization since monday. there was this overwhelming feeling like i need to write epicly about my time. each day that past, it became more difficult to write. alas.
i need to write more and speak of my times and adventures on the Indian Reservation as well of my short stay in middle-of-nowhere, Nebraska.
I think that over the next few posts, i shall write "flashback-postludes" and relate my recent adventures in that manner.
my head is swirling with the events of the past few weeks.
God grant me the serenity to spins these yarns...
Saturday, June 30, 2007
Saturday, June 9, 2007
big sky and spirits high...
well, that was a nightmare. long story short, they patched up my horse. my wallet’s a little lighter now. and by little, I mean a lot.
got back on the road. much relieved. little bummed about the money spent, but glad to be freewheelin again.
the Montana mountain heights brought me right back. feeling good in the saddle. as if with each turn or peak, I left the days previous fiasco further and father behind.
spent the night at my Uncle Phil’s. old-school ramblin man. we understand each other. he’s seen it all and been through the shit. I think he’s one of my main reasons I’m obsessed with Montana, beloved state. he recently came back to Christ after years and years. my heart and so many others, prayed for this and now rejoice with our Father in heaven.
bit of time for some bacon and eggs. black coffee. bit of time to swap a few stories. then is back to the road. last stretch before the Rez. pickin up a red feather friend in billings. I can only wonder what lies ahead for me in these next two weeks. pray that I may be a good witness.
and as always, think fondly of me in my absence…
got back on the road. much relieved. little bummed about the money spent, but glad to be freewheelin again.
the Montana mountain heights brought me right back. feeling good in the saddle. as if with each turn or peak, I left the days previous fiasco further and father behind.
spent the night at my Uncle Phil’s. old-school ramblin man. we understand each other. he’s seen it all and been through the shit. I think he’s one of my main reasons I’m obsessed with Montana, beloved state. he recently came back to Christ after years and years. my heart and so many others, prayed for this and now rejoice with our Father in heaven.
bit of time for some bacon and eggs. black coffee. bit of time to swap a few stories. then is back to the road. last stretch before the Rez. pickin up a red feather friend in billings. I can only wonder what lies ahead for me in these next two weeks. pray that I may be a good witness.
and as always, think fondly of me in my absence…
Thursday, June 7, 2007
houston, we have a problem...
okay. so i guess i'm not quite ready to go radio silent. yesterday, after leaving seattle, i didn't quite make it across the state before things went sour. and boy, the acidity is running high.
for all of you map people out there, i got as far as Lind, WA on the i-90. poor little blue car, was kickin and feeling like she wasn't even going to make it the 20miles to the next town, ritzville. i pulled off under much duress at the crossroads of highway 21 and the i-90. i found a little spot to park and check it out. she never started back up. shit. i'm in the middle of nowhere. wheatfields and crazy-strong high winds. rolling hills as far as i could see. no civilization. shit.
walked a bit. found some roadside workers. asked them for oil (which i thought might be the problem). they barely acknowledged me. flagged down the next car i saw. nice lady. felt sorry for me. she took me to podunk washington, also known as Lind, WA. told be that lind was famous for the 'combine demolition derby' which happens to be on friday. told me i should go see it, since i was broken down. i declined politly. then she told be all about the plight of the western washington farmer and the wheat fields. actually very interesting.
arrived in lind. went to the only mom & pop market (to which she called ahead to make sure they had motor oil). went to buy, but they only take cash. went in search of atm. got lost. the nice lady, Denise, drives around looking for me. finds me. i get cash, i get motor oil. we drive back to my car. long story short, the oil is not the problem or the solution. shit.
she stays with me. we call one of the nearest towns that i can get towed to and fixed up. it's 45miles in the wrong direction: west. at this point, my heart is sinking lower and lower into my chest until i think it fell out by the side of the road. if i get this car running again, i need to go back and find it.
$180 dollars later, i'm being towed back to Moses Lake, WA to a toyota dealer. i say goodbye to denise, my 'middle of nowhere angel'.
the towtruck driver tells me about some of the motels near the dealership. they all cost a million dollars to rent a room, and all i can think about is how much money i'm going to have to spend to even get back on the road. if i even can. i decide to stay up all night. bad idea. i decide to not eat at a resturaunt cause it's expensive. bad idea.
i'm slinging my satchel of justice and wearing my communist hat. i'm set. i'm kickin about, looking like a destitue vagabond (cause i am one). young guy with giant truck sees me and asks me if i need a ride somewhere. he and his buddy take me to town. we have a cig. go to safeway and buy can of soup and 24oz beer. hitch a ride back to the freeway where there's some 24hr diners. found a truckers lounge in the back of some gas station. heat and eat my soup, drink my beer in little back room. truckers come in and out. i say nothing. i fall in and out of sleep. it's midnight.
i decide to get out of there and find some bushes or some shadows to lie down in. i find an abandoned building. i bed down for a couple hours on the concrete next to the building. wishing i had some newspaper to put over me. feeling a bit like Kerouac, but not getting much sleep. give up the ground at about 3ish. head to 'shari's diner' to finish out the night.
nice waitress. i ask her to tuck me back in some back corner. she gives me coffee and let's me sleep. it's 5 when i wake. she gives me more coffee and her bleary night shift eyes pity me. she rustles me up some corned beef hash and eggs at my request. i thank her. she tells me the coffee is on her. it's already a bit light out by 5 though there's no sun yet. i eat a real roadhouse meal and read about Wild Bill Cody. i love the old west.
at 6, i trudge the mile back to my car at the dealership to sleep some more and wait for them to open at 7:30. they're looking at blue car right now, unknowingly deciding the fate of my road trip. best case, i'm back on the road, minus 3 to 4 hundred dollars. ouch. worst case, i have to leave the car. hitch it to montana maybe. maybe just cry in a ditch for a bit. i don't know.
i gotta say, you just can't make up stories like this. and truth be told, road trips wouldn't be the same without some issues along the way. i'm just hoping it ain't over before it's begun.
i'll drop a last note before i hit the Rez...
for all of you map people out there, i got as far as Lind, WA on the i-90. poor little blue car, was kickin and feeling like she wasn't even going to make it the 20miles to the next town, ritzville. i pulled off under much duress at the crossroads of highway 21 and the i-90. i found a little spot to park and check it out. she never started back up. shit. i'm in the middle of nowhere. wheatfields and crazy-strong high winds. rolling hills as far as i could see. no civilization. shit.
walked a bit. found some roadside workers. asked them for oil (which i thought might be the problem). they barely acknowledged me. flagged down the next car i saw. nice lady. felt sorry for me. she took me to podunk washington, also known as Lind, WA. told be that lind was famous for the 'combine demolition derby' which happens to be on friday. told me i should go see it, since i was broken down. i declined politly. then she told be all about the plight of the western washington farmer and the wheat fields. actually very interesting.
arrived in lind. went to the only mom & pop market (to which she called ahead to make sure they had motor oil). went to buy, but they only take cash. went in search of atm. got lost. the nice lady, Denise, drives around looking for me. finds me. i get cash, i get motor oil. we drive back to my car. long story short, the oil is not the problem or the solution. shit.
she stays with me. we call one of the nearest towns that i can get towed to and fixed up. it's 45miles in the wrong direction: west. at this point, my heart is sinking lower and lower into my chest until i think it fell out by the side of the road. if i get this car running again, i need to go back and find it.
$180 dollars later, i'm being towed back to Moses Lake, WA to a toyota dealer. i say goodbye to denise, my 'middle of nowhere angel'.
the towtruck driver tells me about some of the motels near the dealership. they all cost a million dollars to rent a room, and all i can think about is how much money i'm going to have to spend to even get back on the road. if i even can. i decide to stay up all night. bad idea. i decide to not eat at a resturaunt cause it's expensive. bad idea.
i'm slinging my satchel of justice and wearing my communist hat. i'm set. i'm kickin about, looking like a destitue vagabond (cause i am one). young guy with giant truck sees me and asks me if i need a ride somewhere. he and his buddy take me to town. we have a cig. go to safeway and buy can of soup and 24oz beer. hitch a ride back to the freeway where there's some 24hr diners. found a truckers lounge in the back of some gas station. heat and eat my soup, drink my beer in little back room. truckers come in and out. i say nothing. i fall in and out of sleep. it's midnight.
i decide to get out of there and find some bushes or some shadows to lie down in. i find an abandoned building. i bed down for a couple hours on the concrete next to the building. wishing i had some newspaper to put over me. feeling a bit like Kerouac, but not getting much sleep. give up the ground at about 3ish. head to 'shari's diner' to finish out the night.
nice waitress. i ask her to tuck me back in some back corner. she gives me coffee and let's me sleep. it's 5 when i wake. she gives me more coffee and her bleary night shift eyes pity me. she rustles me up some corned beef hash and eggs at my request. i thank her. she tells me the coffee is on her. it's already a bit light out by 5 though there's no sun yet. i eat a real roadhouse meal and read about Wild Bill Cody. i love the old west.
at 6, i trudge the mile back to my car at the dealership to sleep some more and wait for them to open at 7:30. they're looking at blue car right now, unknowingly deciding the fate of my road trip. best case, i'm back on the road, minus 3 to 4 hundred dollars. ouch. worst case, i have to leave the car. hitch it to montana maybe. maybe just cry in a ditch for a bit. i don't know.
i gotta say, you just can't make up stories like this. and truth be told, road trips wouldn't be the same without some issues along the way. i'm just hoping it ain't over before it's begun.
i'll drop a last note before i hit the Rez...
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
radio silence.
i'm leaving the comforts of seattle. with both gone to work, i'm saying goodbye to the couch and the kitchen at my sister and brother-in-law's apartment. my time here has been...well, let's say that sharing in the life of people you love, is what makes us feel human. new friends, Mike and Sarah. old card games of canasta. even got a couple games of beach volleyball in (i know what you're saying. i don't play much beach in SB, and now that i'm in seattle....i know....) but with some eggs in my belly, it's time to keep moving.
time: morning.
weather: cloudy, cold, yet squintingly bright.
disposition: furrowed brow, open heart.
trusty box camera: check.
now, slightly worn atlas: check.
oil lantern: check. (oh yeah.)
my spirit longing for the forest: check, check.
okay. i guess i'm ready. this is it. after this, i'm truly off the grid until late june. i'll be writing old fashioned letters if i can. pray for me. think fondly of me.
know that, despite my absence, you all remain close to my heart.
michael, signing off.
time: morning.
weather: cloudy, cold, yet squintingly bright.
disposition: furrowed brow, open heart.
trusty box camera: check.
now, slightly worn atlas: check.
oil lantern: check. (oh yeah.)
my spirit longing for the forest: check, check.
okay. i guess i'm ready. this is it. after this, i'm truly off the grid until late june. i'll be writing old fashioned letters if i can. pray for me. think fondly of me.
know that, despite my absence, you all remain close to my heart.
michael, signing off.
Sunday, June 3, 2007
bury my heart in the northwest....
i am somewhere caught. caught between worlds. between thoughts. this trip, i'm realizing, is magnifying my increasing tenuous place in life. i am found, lying on the ground, between satisfaction and anxiety.
i spent friday with a dear friend in portland. we parused Powells. a portland-bibliophile's absolute must. didn't buy anyting, surprisingly. s'ok. don't really have the money to spend, and i brought like 5 books that i haven't read. we sipped pressed java. french pressed coffee is somehow superior. we smoked and squinted in the sun. we fed our parking meters. though, we looked, no deli could be found. settled for pub food and a pint. took a picture of the sun, the trees, and the bricks. talked about the future. said wonderfully awkward, prolonged goodbyes.
when i got to my sister's, my brother-in-law, patrick asked me what i wanted to do while i was here. didn't know what to say. what do you do on a trip with no plans or schedules. let the things happen to you, i guess. met up later with friends to BBQ and tip back more than my fair share of beer. laughed. appreciated good company. made a fire in the back yard. appreciated good fire. happily sucked on beer number 6 or 7. appreciated good beer.
woke up early today with a response to the previously unanswered question. appreciate. that's what i want to be doing while i'm 'here'. and all the other stops along the road. which brings me back to my initial problem.
i think on the future. distant and near. i wonder what i'm doing, and how long i can keep it up. i wonder what the next chapter looks like. or if there are even chapters at all.
there is a wolf inside me that is hungry with wanderlust. i stave him off for months, and feed him in the summers. today he is satisfied. i wonder about tomorrow.
oh, and though it's been hot here, it rained this eve. i guess it would be Seattle if it didn't.
tomorrow, i'm going to find a oil lantern. and go to a history museum. mmm, i love history.
i spent friday with a dear friend in portland. we parused Powells. a portland-bibliophile's absolute must. didn't buy anyting, surprisingly. s'ok. don't really have the money to spend, and i brought like 5 books that i haven't read. we sipped pressed java. french pressed coffee is somehow superior. we smoked and squinted in the sun. we fed our parking meters. though, we looked, no deli could be found. settled for pub food and a pint. took a picture of the sun, the trees, and the bricks. talked about the future. said wonderfully awkward, prolonged goodbyes.
when i got to my sister's, my brother-in-law, patrick asked me what i wanted to do while i was here. didn't know what to say. what do you do on a trip with no plans or schedules. let the things happen to you, i guess. met up later with friends to BBQ and tip back more than my fair share of beer. laughed. appreciated good company. made a fire in the back yard. appreciated good fire. happily sucked on beer number 6 or 7. appreciated good beer.
woke up early today with a response to the previously unanswered question. appreciate. that's what i want to be doing while i'm 'here'. and all the other stops along the road. which brings me back to my initial problem.
i think on the future. distant and near. i wonder what i'm doing, and how long i can keep it up. i wonder what the next chapter looks like. or if there are even chapters at all.
there is a wolf inside me that is hungry with wanderlust. i stave him off for months, and feed him in the summers. today he is satisfied. i wonder about tomorrow.
oh, and though it's been hot here, it rained this eve. i guess it would be Seattle if it didn't.
tomorrow, i'm going to find a oil lantern. and go to a history museum. mmm, i love history.
Friday, June 1, 2007
off the grid...
i gotta say. i don't know what it is about that magical line that divides CA from OR. but it felt like the second i crossed it, i was renewed. i'll never get tired of driving those roads in southwestern oregon. with cali behind me, the old leash (most people call them cell phones) got turned off and stuffed to the back of the glove box, which of course, holds no gloves.
with a smile that wouldn't leave, i traversed lower oregon, stopping from time to time to snap a shot with my trusty box camera. napped in the shade by the side of the road. spent too much time buried in the atlas, while driving (arg!). wrote a bit of poetry. somthing that, i hate to say, but, i don't do enough these days. but sure-as-shootin (that wasn't as nearly as fun to write as it is to say), put me in the woods on a summer day and i'm bound to tear up slightly and want to write poetry.
before i leave you with the poem.
a few other things that happened today. almost ran out of gas, again. got lost twice (not really lost, just didn't know where i was). a guy asked me if i was a carpenter, because of the reality sticker on my car...lucky guess. sang really loud in the car. talked about old cameras and building log houses with a 91 yr old grampa. spry guy for 91. drove a tractor. admired a full moon (a blue moon actually). and listened to a sad-sweet irish tune on an old fiddle.
it was a good day.
but this poem sums today's drive better...
==================
the hills and valleys
rise and fall
in a simple comforting rhythm
like ocean waves
imitated in green
i slide through on these paved paths
as if i was walking on mountain water,
rocky and treed
i cannot find a shred of sadness
in this clear blue air
for the breeze only brings a smile
even in my solitude
these roads, now familiar trails,
whisper their surrounding beauty
and like old friends we sit together
in silence
watching the world fly by
with a smile that wouldn't leave, i traversed lower oregon, stopping from time to time to snap a shot with my trusty box camera. napped in the shade by the side of the road. spent too much time buried in the atlas, while driving (arg!). wrote a bit of poetry. somthing that, i hate to say, but, i don't do enough these days. but sure-as-shootin (that wasn't as nearly as fun to write as it is to say), put me in the woods on a summer day and i'm bound to tear up slightly and want to write poetry.
before i leave you with the poem.
a few other things that happened today. almost ran out of gas, again. got lost twice (not really lost, just didn't know where i was). a guy asked me if i was a carpenter, because of the reality sticker on my car...lucky guess. sang really loud in the car. talked about old cameras and building log houses with a 91 yr old grampa. spry guy for 91. drove a tractor. admired a full moon (a blue moon actually). and listened to a sad-sweet irish tune on an old fiddle.
it was a good day.
but this poem sums today's drive better...
==================
the hills and valleys
rise and fall
in a simple comforting rhythm
like ocean waves
imitated in green
i slide through on these paved paths
as if i was walking on mountain water,
rocky and treed
i cannot find a shred of sadness
in this clear blue air
for the breeze only brings a smile
even in my solitude
these roads, now familiar trails,
whisper their surrounding beauty
and like old friends we sit together
in silence
watching the world fly by
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