I was watching a 58 Packard float down the street and apparently so was she. We met with a thump. My superior weight knocked her to the ground. She smiled as I helped her up then I locked on to her weird eyes.
She had a cat’s eyes only they were round. They were a shade of blue that should not exist in nature. They were dark, almost black, but were bright as the sun. They contained joy and suffering, though I think the suffering part was her doing.
I was so mesmerized I didn’t even notice her walk away.
“Curiosity killed the cat.” That’s what teachers told us when we became too inquisitive. We were supposed to learn what they wanted us to learn, not what we wanted to learn. We weren’t supposed to question what they taught us no matter how stupid and unrealistic it seemed.
Columbus discovered America, even though there were already people here. Thou shalt not kill, unless there’s a war, then it’s OK. The president is lying to us to protect us.
Then they killed Andy. Beaten to death with metal rulers in the boiler room. The head teacher said, “See, we told you.”
In northern Florida during Daytona Speedweek. (AKA the big race) A whole bunch of extra people are here. We are having to go all the way to the Georgia border this weekend. All the other campgrounds are full.
2/14/20 – Nearly Georgia
We are five miles from Georgia in a weird commercial campground that probably used to be a county park. Across the street is an abandoned motel. Across the highway from that is another abandoned motel. There are four large fireworks stores in sight. It feels like we are in some post-apocalyptic oasis.
And there are ducks.
2/17/20 – Three days later
Feeling better today. More energy and clarity. We are in an amazing place. A state park on the banks of the Suwannee River, dedicated to the guy who wrote the song.
I helped rescue a dog today. It was wandering in traffic and was very scared and probably already been hit. I parked the RV and grabbed a leash. A woman and I managed to get a loop over the dog’s head and get it off the road. A passerby called animal control.
When the animal control woman arrived she said that she already had two nearly identical dogs in her truck. It didn’t go quietly but now it’s safe.
2/18/20 – How I Love Ya
Got in a short bike ride today. A mix of paved and dirt roads. Nice scenery, but no alligators spotted. Pat took her scooter for a ride as well.
We’ve got not TV reception here so I’m getting a bunch of work done on my next videos. I had to download a new video editor. The once I was using just can’t do what I need it to do. Trial and error.
2/19/20 – Down River
We are sixty miles from the last park but still on the Suwannee river. All kinds of critters in the water here. We have a great view but no cable TV and 1 bar cell service. It’s going to be a quiet couple days.
The directions for the hot rollers were intentionallyconfusingbecauseCarl,the head of customer service, loved talking to frustrated women.The more irrational the better. There were many theories on the origin of this weird quirk, mostly involving his mother.
Then came Morris. Yes, he was named for the cat. He spoiled Carl’s sweet setup because he could explain anything to anyone. With Morris in place Carl’s parade of frustrated women ceased.
Carl tried to get Morris fired, but he was too well-liked. Morris talked the company out of firing Carl because that’s the kind of guy he was.
