Intro

   By rights this blog should be written by a human being, but seeing as how my human is among the laziest carbon-based units on the planet I have taken it upon myself to write about our upcoming trip across America. My main purpose is to provide updates to people we are likely to visit so that, if they choose, they can make themselves scarce as we get near. It has been suggested that my observations would be more illuminating if I wore a GoPro, but having a camera strapped to my back is not a good look for me.
     Three literary works inspire me. The first is, unsurprisingly, John Steinbeck's "Travels with Charley," a not altogether satisfying account of the circumnavigation of the US by a grumpy old man and his dog.  The second inspiration is "Lolita" which, if you leave out the scandalous bits, is a surprisingly great travelogue of the western United States in the early 1950's. My final inspiration is the writing of Archy a cockroach with the soul of a poet who wrote about America of the 20's and 30's. He wrote by jumping headfirst onto the keys of a reporter's typewriter, succeeding in making cogent observations without punctuation and capitalization. My muses: an American who looked for, but failed to find, America; a Russian who succeeded; and a bug.
     We leave tomorrow at the crack of doom to drop a friend off at the airport and drive to Sunriver. Matty hopes to see totality Monday. I think bicycling will be involved. He's going to keep me inside during the eclipse. Says I can't be trusted. Meanwhile he's overpacking like crazy. Water, dog food and a couple of toys- what else de we need?
     It is too cute by half, but we decided to give the car a name. Matty's parents named their 1955 Dodge Amadeus. Steinbeck named his pickup camper Rocinante.


. I suggested Barbara Woodhouse. Matty said we could name the car after an Englishwoman, but I had to choose between Jane Tennison and Emma Peel. I chose Emma Peel because of her relationship with a trusty Steed.
     Stay safe during the eclipse. I'll let you know how things work out in central Oregon.

Comments

  1. Dear Precioso Bellicoso,

    In these dog days of summer, I envy you your anticipated travels. Here are some jokes to entertain Matty with:

    1) Why did the elephant cross the road?
    He was friends with the chicken.

    2) What covers a tree? Bark.
    What covers a house? Woof.
    What covers a wrinkled neck? Bow.
    When the moon covers the sun, what do you say? Wow.

    Your human friend, Barbara

    ReplyDelete

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