[September 29, 2018] A week from tomorrow I hit the road for Montana to see my best son. It's weird having a kid live so far from home. Sometimes it feels as if I don't have a son at all. Then he calls early on a Friday evening and we talk for almost two hours, and my heart remembers, and I can't sleep because I'm so excited to go see him.
----------
[October 8, 2018] All day. That's how long it rained today. I drove for 12 hours with the wind shield wipers counting out the seconds. My Nissan ate up all the miles between Oconomowoc, WI, and Wall, SD. These photos are the highlights (my kiddo's name is Adrian, for those of you who don't know). Very thankful for audio books and a giant playlist. I drank endless Diet Pepsi's and sucked on so many red Tootsie Pops my tongue feels as if someone scraped a straight razor over it. But now I have clean hair and am tucked in to a big bed in some anonymous hotel. It was 82 degrees at home today in Michigan, and it is 36 degrees here in Wall. I think it's actually snowing right now, but I'm not getting out of this cloud of a bed to confirm that. Tomorrow, a stop at the Badlands, then on to Bozeman, MT, to lay eyes on that long lost son of mine!
----------
[October 11, 2018] Yesterday, I woke in the pre-dawn with the intention of watching the sun rise over the Badlands. As I drove the road into the national park I encountered not a single other vehicle, and I was glad for the solitude. I was ready to have my breath taken away by the sight of the sun shining over the prairie and the rock formations. But, the sun had a different idea of what the morning should be and decided to continue resting under a cover of fog and fine mist. In the gray and still dawn, I took in the lacey blanket of the light snow on the grass prairie. I stood on the edge of rock formations and looked down into the valleys of strange and splendid terrain. And, I met up with some wild life. I saw a herd of mule deer, and pulled the car close so I could look into the eyes of one of them. A herd of bighorn sheep grazed and ignored me, even as I called to them as if they were puppies. For two hours I carefully drove the meandering roads of the park, gulping in the beauty and saying scraps of prayer - and in the end, not minding a bit that the sun didn’t join me.
----------
[October 12, 2018] At last, the sun makes an appearance in Montana! These past days I've walked the neighborhoods and a nearby park in my kiddo's town, but the sky has steadily held onto the color gray. Fog rolls off the mountain tops. Wind has whipped through the streets of Livingston, Montana, (officially the windiest city in the state) every day I've been here. I can hear it as I sit in my sweet little AirBnB writing, day and night. Out walking, you really have to lean into the cold air to get where you're going, leaves swirling around you. One night, my son and I drove through the Bozeman mountain pass, snow falling, roads slick, winds high, the two of us holding our breath as semi-trucks roared past. Winter appears to come fast and hard here. And even though I am not a fan of the season, I have the urge to drop in on it for a day or two out here in the Wild West. I'm told it's beautiful. But today, I am thrilled to see the bright sky and feel a warmer temperature. I can't wait to go explore.
Comentários