Road Trip

Road Trip
Tuesday, April 4, 2006

At one time or another I remember my daddy saying, “Time waits for no man.” Not only does it not wait, but it really flies. I was just looking at my last blog posting. That was on January 10, almost three months ago. I have got to blog more. It’s not that I haven’t been writing because I have. I’ve been spending more time writing my book than I have keeping up my blog. Sorry!

Right now I am sitting at McDonalds in Winona, Mississippi eating a double fish filet wit cheese and drinking a Dr. Pepper. The fish sandwich is good but not as good as freshly caught crappie and bluegills. I will get into them before the week is gone, and as many crawfish as I can eat.

I need to tell you about an experience I had on the way down here. You may or may not have heard on national news about the tornados that struck Missouri last Sunday. Anyways, I was traveling south on Interstate 55 when 6-7 power line repair trucks passed me going north in the opposite direction. They were quite a spectacle. A highway patrol cruiser was leading them; sirens blaring and flashing lights. Along the interstate highway workers were fixing road signs that were lying in the ditches. Then I remembered the news from last night in the hotel room in Cape Girardeau, Missouri about the string of tornados that plummeted Missouri. Now I understood where the power line trucks were going.

I pulled into the Arkansas welcome center to use the bathroom. I had to wail a little bit. There was a tour bus there with lots of people older than me. I went inside the center afterwards and talked to the attendant. I asked him where the tornado had touched down and he told me about thirty miles north behind me. I thought, “Do I go back and take a look or stay on my schedule to be in Tallulah around 4pm.” I decided it would be too much of a hassle to back track thirty miles. So I continued my drive on to Memphis. I wanted to be there by noon. For the next ten miles I was thinking that this something that I needed to experience; that I may never have this opportunity again.

Ten miles later I pulled into a gas station. I didn’t need any gas but I wanted to get a local newspaper. I wanted to see what towns were hit the hardest. Sure enough on the front page of Monday and Tuesday’s paper were pictures and stories of devastation. I made small talk with a gentleman who was waiting for his sister who was coming in from North Carolina on the Greyhound bus. Seems the bus left her in Memphis and she was to be on the next bus but he didn’t know what time it was to arrive. So he was waiting for her at the gas station, but he didn’t know how long he had to wait. He owns a landscaping business and we talked about the pros and cons of working hourly versus being paid a flat amount for the job. I put away two regular chicken wings and to hot wings and a Sobe soda. It was time to hit the road if I wanted to be in Memphis by noon.