April 20, 2006

• 2006.04.06

  This is Part 2. Part 1 is here.

  Wake to the sound of a starting semi-truck. That's how it is when you sleep in a rest area.

  I had been roused a few times earlier by unfamiliar noises combined with general paranoia. Traveling alone.

  The snow had blanketed the van. Completely covered it with a layer of powder. I couldn't see out, except in a few spots where the window wasn't covered.

  The owls weren't in evidence anymore, which was to be expected. The RV was still there, and the tiny Honda, and the truck with the horse trailer. I had to wonder if there were horses in it which were by now freezing in the weather.

  I was the first person that morning to walk to the bathroom. I know this because I was the first to walk on the virgin snow. There's something about being the first set of footprints; a certain wonder. The junipers were frosted, and the occassional shaft of sunlight made its way through the clouds. Halos on snow.

  But mostly it was cloudy and got more cloudy, and then stayed cloudy. I began to wonder if it had been wise to stay put last night. Would the roads be closed due to snow? Would I end up driving behind a snowplow?

  I drank a Coke from the machine. Not coffee, but caffeine and sugar nonetheless. I ate a Cliff bar and some fruit. The semi-trucks were zooming down the highway, so the roads hadn't been closed.

  Breathing in some Utah desert snow air. Cold and fresh and wide-open. Van starts on the first try. Good tires make the snow and ice disappear.

  We're moving.

  

  • 11:37 pm
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