Idle thoughts on a 3,000-mile road trip

One of the coolest things about driving on a clear night is seeing the millions of stars twinkling in the heavens. I have always been fascinated by the celestial world and driving across country to sell my house and pack my stuff afforded me a couple of outstanding evenings of star gazing. Shooting stars, an asteroid and even the murk of the Milky Way gleamed and glistened like never before. It was beautiful.

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Kansas City is one of the most underrated cities in the entire United States. It has more fountains per capita than any other city, a world class art museum, is home to the National World War I Museum, and sits on the banks of the Mighty Missouri River. The town has a dynamic nightlife, and the barbecue there isn’t too bad either. You owe it to yourself to check out this fine and gracious city.

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Got to visit with my uncle in Des Moines, Iowa on my way home. He is 80-years-old now but is one of the finest men I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. He is a Navy veteran who was stationed on Midway Island in the 1950s. He is a polio survivor. He recently moved into an “independent living” facility because he could not adequately take care of my aunt in her frail state. He did it because it was the right thing to do but he hates living in a nursing home. He is quite a guy, Mr. Charles Raymond Fitzwater. I am glad I made time to see him.

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If you have ever driven around Chicago, you know it is a crap shoot when it comes to traffic. On my way home, I avoided the nasty delays that can take hours to unravel, and then vowed to take an alternative route back to Texas so I did not have to test the traffic gods fate.

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Selling my house was one of the saddest days of my life. Enough said.
On the bright side, all of my adult children were home for the holidays with all five of my grandbabies. Plus, I got to spend some time with all of them and my three sisters in Grand Rapids for swimming, good cheer and laughter. The kids all became fish and created imaginary deep sea monsters as they rode on the backs of grandpa, their dads, and their Uncle Joe. Before all was said and done there was a WWE cage match with the grandkids jumping all over me. In addition, Henry (the oldest grandson) and I had a lightsaber sword fight that lasted 10 minutes. As Henry tells it “once I was the pupil now, I am the Master!”
“Only a Master of Evil Darth!” I said. Henry beamed from ear-to-ear. After all that commotion, I was worn out! And yes, Henry won the light saber dual.

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Coming back, I saved 150 miles by driving through Arkansas. I had never driven through Little Rock, so I found that interesting. Later that day, however, I was trapped in the turbulent storms of Dallas with high winds, searing rain, tornadoes—you name it. I never thought I was going to get out of that city.

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Got back to Gonzales at midnight. Was immediately sick. I have been sick ever since I got back. I found out the culprits were my daughter-in-law and grandson Theo who gave me the flu. It is kicking my butt. Let’s hope 2019 starts off better that 2018 ended.
Happy New Year’s everyone!