Along The Road - Thursday's Post

Another day ( Wednesday ) driving across this magnificent country of
ours. I stayed on the interstates in order to get to my destination in
Colorado by Saturday. I've made great time due to good weather,
relatively little traffic and a steady pace through Indiana, Illinois,
Missouri and last evening I scooted into Kansas.

The weather folks are calling for either rain or snow storm all across
Kansas today, but whether it's rain or snow will depend on the
temperature and the track of the storm. I'm hoping I get rain, but, if
not, I'll travel carefully and hole up if necessary.

Yesterday on the road I saw a number of seemingly innocuous things,
but their images stayed within my mind and I thought I'd mention a few
unusual and disturbing observations.

I saw a small pond, a really small pond ,with a dock on one shore.
Moored at the dock was a pontoon boat with two big motors. Go figure.
It seems to me that by the time you'd start one motor you'd drift to
the other side of the pond.

I saw hugh flocks of Canadian Geese flying together at about a
thousand feet in the air. There must have been several hundred of
their v-shaped flight patterns all heading in a northerly direction.
Were they heading home? Maybe spring is coming.

I saw signs that our economy is still hurting. Along many of our
interstate highways there are tall signs, fifty or sixty feet in the
air, advertising something or another. I must have counted thirty
empty signs offering a phone number and the words, "Your ad here."
The only advertisements that were continuous were for fast food chains
and truck repairs.

Another of the disturbing observations was the continuous, mile after
mile, white plastic bags caught in trees, brush or on fences and
waving their polluting existence in the wind for all to see. I stopped
counting after a few hundred. What is it about some Americans who
can't crunch the bag and keep it in the vehicle until it can be
disposed of properly?

It wasn't until I got into Illinois that the snow pack was gone. I
even saw some winter wheat poking its tiny green blades through the
earth. It was just a hint of green, but it was there. I do love the
midwest with its flat terrain speckled with vast fields of potential
growth. Without these farmers and so many more like them we in the
suburbs and cities of America would starve. I silently thanked them
for their hard work and expertise as I sped by their silos poking
asparagus-like through the ground canvas of the great plains.

Dinner last night was fine, but damn too many Americans are fat. I was
eating in one of those mid-western eateries where saddles, steer horns
and cowboy hats festoon the walls. There were twelve tables for four
and booths in my section. At least, two of every four people at those
tables were way over weight.

Again thanks for tuning in....more when I can.

rgs