You must not think me necessarily foolish because I am facetious, nor will I consider you necessarily wise because you are grave

Got a chance to get out of Houston City Limits and on out a ways into east Texas. I lived in the Shreveport area for a while, in an area known as the Ark-La-Tex. You can figure that out. Anyway, I know you have heard of Texarkana, so there you go.

Driving out through east Texas reminded me so much of Louisiana. It was baking hot and dripping humidity. And you could just feel the character of the place. The poverty, the surliness, the wary eyed look that would eventually break into genuine hospitality. If you turn out to be "all right". I could feel it. And it felt right again.

What does one listen to as a soundtrack for a hot, languid road trip through their not quite forgotten past? I started out with Potato Hole (Yep, I bought it), but it was more upbeat and funky than the drive required. Since I only have 2 CDs with me, I chose the other one. The git down, dirty, gritty....Drive By Truckers. Live from Austin City Limits CD. 3 Dimes Down. Zip City. Puttin' People on the Moon. The hope & despair of The Living Bubba. Yeah, there's the groove.
I could live in Texas.
Anybody that finds this picture beautiful, is a kindred spirit of mine. I love the past. I cherish it. Many times before I have voiced that sentiment. I am a Southerner through and through. I believe that our culture has brought us up to be that way. Not to live in the past, though many of my brothers and sisters seem to have understood it that way, but to make where we have been an intergral part of where we are going. You don't have to abandon your past to greet your future.

Work has been crazy dysfunctional at the airport, but having every third day off has made for some pleasant afternoons. Today is another of them.

It's so hard to communicate with insects. Or in this case, I guess, arachnids. Although, I go back to the original, because it really is hard to communicate with either. I was brushing my teeth a second ago (yes, I have come back to edit this) and there was a tiny spider on my shoulder. Tiny, but a spider nonetheless, so I didn't really want him there for long. Or at all.

I went to flick him away, but he moved...again and again. I was speakling all calm and soothing like about how we both win if he moves along. I would be spiderless and he would be unsquished. So yeah, I thought that was mighty sporting of me. But he kept bugging out. ( Heh heh heh....bugging out. Get it? ) Eventually, cooler heads prevailed, mine, and he got his butt in gear. Literally. He did that thing that spiders do where they lay out this escape thread out of their rear end and kinda parachute down and to safety. Good enough. Like I said, I was going for the win-win scenario anyway.

I am headed to Cincinnatti week after next. At least that is what the airport is called. My itinerary shows both the Airport Hilton (3 mi. from airport) and Hertz as having Kentucky addresses. My wife sometimes worries that I have a girlfriend on the road. As if! There's not really a female fan base for fat, sarcastic, middle aged guys. That I have found, anyway. Besides, she really need not worry about me fooling around in an area that saw fit to elect Jerry Springer mayor. It's like I told her, how could I fool around ?... I don't have a cousin up there. Pa dump dump!

There are 2 other things I keep meaning to tell you. When I am out and about I remember, when I sit down here I forget. It is pissing me off.

One thing was was about how there was a fender bender on FM 1960. 2 cars, nothing spectacular. What threw me for a loop was that lined up behind each wrecked car (so facing both inbound and outbound from my perspective driving up) was a line of about 8-10 wreckers...behind each vehicle.... waiting patiently for the constable to finish. I am driving along and I see 16 or 20 wreckers and am expecting to see a masacree. A veritible bloodbath. Instead, I get a Nissan and a Malibu with dented fenders.

Still can't remember the other thing. But I am shutting down the computer and heading out now, so it should come back to me soon. Dang CRS!!!

My problem pretty much lies in reconciling my gross habits with my net income, out
Ramblin' Ed

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Boy, I sure screwed the meter up on this one. Apologies for that. But I like the story. And besides, nothing says you can't just skip it. That's why I put 'em at the bottom now, for your ease of skippage.

You Know Me, And You Know I (Just Ain't That Likely To)

I've been thinking 'bout you
and all those things that were left unsaid
when we said too much

There were a lot of things
that were in the way,
but I guess one wasn't trust

You were thinking I was something
you believed to be
was something more exciting than it was

You were thinking I had something
gonna set you free
Though I guess a guy like me, he never does

I was a man of many tales,
I was a man of many journeys
I was a man who lived in versions of the truth

I put those colors in my stories
'cause it seemed when they were painted
they always meant a whole lot more to you

That's the kind of thing I do

I'd like to say I'm sorry
when it comes to what we've done
To maybe hear your side of things
if you think there might be one

They always say to walk a mile
in someone else's shoes
But you know me, and you know I
just ain't that likely to

All the drinking I've done in your memory
is all the drinking I've done
it ain't made us seem no clearer
it ain't tied off what's undone

It ain't made me understand a thing
there's so much I don't know
like why you let me stay so long
like why you let me go

I'd like to say I'm sorry
when it comes to what we've done
To maybe hear your point of view
if you feel like having one

They say you ought to walk a mile
in someone else's shoes
But you know me, and you know I
ain't really likely to

Sometimes I think you know just why
sometimes I can't sit still
But you don't give me nothing
And I know you never will

Been thinking I should find somewhere
to stay and settle down
to try ignoring all the voices
telling me to blow this town

Hey, I've been thinking 'bout you
and all those things that were left unsaid
when we said too much

there were so many things
that we got all wrong
we got so in out of love

And I'd like to say I'm sorry
when it comes to what we've done
To maybe hear your side of things
if you think there might be one

They always say to walk a mile
in someone else's shoes
But you know me, and you know I
just ain't that likely to

Ed
Houston, TX
2 Aug 2009