Almost Ta Ta Tuesday

Not that sort of ta ta, more along the lines of toodle-loo, so long, farewell. hit the dusty trail. Etc. Tomorrow I'm heading for Texas, to camp in the desert. No phone, no internet unless a long drive is taken. Almost exactly like Jesus, but pretty different and not for forty days and nights. And Jesus didn't take a bus to get to the desert. I am.

I haven't taken a long ride on a bus in almost 40 years. As I recall, I wanted to jump off and run screaming into the day/night/city/woods about five distinct times during the trip. The bus stations scared me even more. And the cops in the bus stations scared me the most. 


So, why am I doing this, when it's not a whole lot more to fly? I'm not sure. Maybe to see if it's as bad as I remember (new, bigger seats! Wifi! Clean bathrooms! Modern!). More, it is 
to see out the window, this land I usually fly over. I want to see it from ground level, not 30,000 feet up. Trains are ridiculously expensive, as in, I could get a cheap ticket to Europe instead of the train this fairly short distance. I love to travel by train, but I don't want to buy one.So I'm leaving the driving to them. And if I must jump off and run screaming out into the fill-in-the-blankness, I'll try to do it near an airport.

I finally got to see one of the many graveyards they have around here (yes, this is the local graves part of my summer traveling; you knew it was coming). This graveyard has a sign posted at the entrance that makes pool rules look like freedom. There are so many things you can't do there that I am amazed the dead can rest in peace at all. We didn't have a lot of time, but a few stood out. Thanks, Sloane!

My favorite. Elizabeth his wife. 

This is in German, so I couldn't read it. Maybe one of you can. But we liked the
ruggedness of the stone and it was the only slightly out of kilter one for acres. 

Brother. Sweet and sad. I know there is a strong story here but I'll just have to imagine it.

Sloane really liked this one. Ah, passing down family traditions through the generations; it makes me feel so good.

Yesterday Michelle came home with some of the most beautiful roses I've ever seen. They are the color of sunrises and sunsets; they are the color of love. She told me they were my thank you roses, but I was the one doing the thanking. Funny how that works.

We were going to cook dinner and take it to the nearby lake for a picnic, but that is planning without reality - translate kids - so we ended up cooking dinner and eating here, with three teenagers, Grayson and the dog. In between a Scrabble game, and a few other activities. I was seriously jonesing for water sight so we left the kids and sat for awhile (trespassing through a yard because the lake is a private one, a concept that someone like Victor Gonzalez would endorse, complete with locked gates and spiky fences) at the edge of the lake, watching the crescent moon. It was peaceful. It was soul soothing. It was almost as much as I needed, but that is called home. No photo because yeah, I forgot my camera in my rush to get to the water.

I hope you saw the moon last night, but if you didn't, look tonight. It's beautiful!

Salud!

I'll be in touch; keep the light on.

Have a torrent of touches Tuesday! Do something Texan.