It's just after 5:00 AM, and the sun is out. The temperature is pleasant now compared to yesterday when I drove into town. LOL. It was over a 100 degrees. Thank the Almighty I got my AC fixed. I didn't get other things worked on, but I got the AC fixed!
I started driving out of Minneapolis the other night after a normal Thursday shift at the Burke Center. I couldn't wait to get on the road. I had a headache most of the day, but I thought if I could get just far enough, it would be that much less I'd have to drive on Friday. So I drove to nearly the outskirts of Kansas City, MO.
The landscape in the Home Land was beautiful especially with the sunlight making the shades of green in the trees and grass much more vivid against the blue skies. As I drove and listened to the news a bit, I was really just trying to quiet my mind. I thought about the last time I had driven this far South; it was when I left MN eight years ago to finish graduate school in San Jose, CA. Like then, I packed my Jeep with all that I owned and was necessary for me to start out and getting a footing on what might be ahead. What happened after I got there and the years that followed I made a half-ass attempt to capture in a story narrative. True.
It turned out after a semi-comfortable night of sleeping in the passenger seat of my Jeep, that I was up and headache-free just after 5:00 AM. I'm not sure I read the directions wrong, but what is supposed to be a shorter trip by Google maps turned out to be me driving through corn fields, running out of gas, and likely ending up with the same amount of time driven than if I had just taken the interstate the whole way! I didn't even mention the thunder storm and tornado weather I got going into Texas that nearly ended the trip because of flash flooding and rain so thick I thought I was in a car wash! OMG. In all of that, I got to Albuquerque, New Mexico by 8:30 PM Mountain Time. I had hoped to get to my long-time college buddy's place in Pheonix, AZ, but it was just a little too far to risk on a Friday night.
Albuquerque was an interesting place. It was so interesting that I decided to get a room, get cleaned up, and go out and have a drink. Most of the people seemed to be Native American or a mix of native American, Mexican, and Caucasian. The mood was chill, and the homes looked like hobbit buildings made out of bricks with a sheets of ply wood put on the roofs. I'm not even kidding. The 'main' street had a number of really posh looking places, open area bar/restaurants, and my favorite spot-Starbucks. I returned to a brewery right next to the Starbucks I stopped at just after I got off the road. The people were interesting, and it seems I stuck out or at least my bright colored marathon running shoes did. I watched some sports event happening as I drifted in my thoughts about a conversation I had earlier in the day. I smiled and laughed a bit and that lead to a conversation with a gal sitting in front of me that heard me laugh. And, as is always the case, immediately wanted to talk when she found out I was from the Midwest because she was from Wisconsin. LOL.
I got into Phoenix late morning after an overly scenic road detour off of the interstate again! I mean...I'm gonna have to retire the Google map app if it keeps that up. But, I made it to Jon's place and got reacquainted with his six children! SIX!!! They have grown so much in the last two years since I'd seen them last; that visit was exactly two years ago when I left California for the Home Land. It's true. Nearly two years ago to the week, I was visiting my buddy after the most interesting period of time in my life...till the last three months of it that is. I also got to meet up with an old graduate school classmate that I was happy to see only after five years, Dr. Sarah!
At the end of our meet up, we took a selfie, walked around a bit because the area isl really nice and exactly like one we'd run into each other periodically in grad school days. She was sweet and classy as always. Incidently, the more I listened to her speak, the more I thought she was from Minnesota! Ha.
Later, my buddy Jon and I grilled chicken, we took in the heat some, and eventually the day came to a close with period conversations on things eternal..I mean he's a senior pastor of a church, so I am always interested in what he has to say. "You have the power to heal physically, and the power to give life or take it verbally," He said to me in the process of it. "You may have done some permanent damage verbally, but you can bring life to it to it again and restore life where it was taken." He continued to say, and I agree with him. It's, in part, why I'm driving to California...to help foster healing in my former's life in not only my life, if she will allow herself to believe and have enough faith in me. All I can really do is show up like I had said so many times before with no action. Today is the day, I am rectifying that problem. Cause I'm the same, I don't always believe what people say, but I do believe what they do. So, today, I'm finishing the trip to California late afternoon if things go smoothly, and if I don't get sucked into an after church luncheon! LOL. Stay tuned.
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