Go West Old Men: A Travel Memoir. Part 9

Photo by Andy Staver on Unsplash

This is Part 9 of the story, follow these links to see Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8

So. Much. Road.

Our third day was about getting there. Our goal was to get from Tulsa to Albuquerque by early evening because Santa had dinner plans with Santa, and also Santa.

We started with a leisurely time over coffee and breakfast with Tabb and Mary. Then we loaded up again and hit the road.

Our goal for the day. Albuquerque.

Early on, I got the lyric to Lady’s Maid from Titanic (the musical) stuck in my head.

There’s a place in America, called Albu-que-que…if you know you know.

But before New Mexico, there’s Texas. And even if you’re just going across the northern part of Texas, there’s a lot of Texas.

We saw more windmills than oil wells. I didn’t remember that from watching Dallas. Then again, we didn’t go through Dallas.

At a welcome center the guide gave us some promotional materials about Texas. Great, but we weren’t staying. I still have about a dozen or so “Don’t Mess with Texas” sticker that I’m not sure what I’m going to do with.

We didn’t make Amarillo by morning (if you know, you know) but we made it by lunch time.

By this point, we’re officially on Route 66 and getting some appropriate kicks.

Our cultural highlight of the day was a brief visit to the Cadillac Ranch.

Cadillac Ranch is a unique public art installation located along Route 66 near Amarillo. Created in 1974 by

Scott and Mike at The Cadillac Ranch, Amarillo, Texas

the art group Ant Farm, a group of art-hippies from San Francisco, it features ten Cadillac cars buried nose-first in the ground at an angle corresponding to that of the Great Pyramid of Giza. Over the years, visitors have been encouraged to leave their mark by spray painting and graffiti, turning the cars into colorful symbols of American pop culture and artistic expression.

When we crossed from Texas into New Mexico, the terrain and the skyline were familiar, even though it had been forty-three years since I spent my time on the reservation. I began thinking about my time near Shiprock, and about my friends Rick and Kathy. I saw them once in 1986 and we lost touch. They later left World Gospel Mission (WGM) and while I tried a few times, I could never connect with them.

Scott was driving, so I tried one more time and finally found a connection. They were both mentioned in an obituary for Rick’s father who had died some years back. In the obituary, I found that Rick had passed a few years prior to that. I still don’t know what happened. But it reminded me that we need to value, and maintain, our relationships.

Rick was a friend, a mentor, and a great guy to go hiking with in the Colorado Mountains. I’m sad that we didn’t get another chance to do that.

We made Albuquerque by late afternoon and checked into a hotel that, fortunately had an outdoor pool.

But we had a dinner date.

If you haven’t picked up on it, in November and December I’m a Santa Claus portrayal artist.

Way back during the year and a half of Two Weeks to Slow the Curve (™), I met dozens of other Santas online as we worked to save the magic of Christmas and developed plans for virtual visits throughout the 2020 Christmas season.

Santa Skip, Santa Ron, Santa Mike

One of those Santas I met was Santa Ron who lives just north of New Mexico. So we planned to meet him for dinner. We met at The Range for a great Mexican/Southwest dinner. Ron brought along Santa Skip and we had a great time telling Santa stories.

Scott enjoyed being in the presence of three magical creatures.

After dinner Scott and I entertained the prospect of a nighttime swim in the hotel pool.

Mother Nature had different plans and entertained us with some pretty spectacular sky fireworks.

But it was all good. We knew that we would reach the Canyon the next afternoon.

Or would we?

At least I finally made that left turn in Albuquerque.

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When It’s Early in the Morning

Photo by David Mao on Unsplash

My wife accuses me of being a morning person. It’s almost true.

When I can actually manage to get up, I do enjoy getting some tasks done early in the morning. I’m currently doing a chair yoga routine, all part of that word flexible (My Three Words).

Then I spend some time reading and praying. I’m not very good at it, but I try.

The other thing I attempt to do is write a thousand words. Sometimes it’s just a matter of journaling. Less often, I do get some serious writing done.

I started this nearly nine years ago while on a trip to Atlanta. It was one of those eras when the day job was particularly sucky. I had plans of morphing my daily writing into a lucrative career, allowing me to exit the day job much earlier than planned.

I called the project “How I Wrote My Ass Out of Hell.”

On a side note, that’s happening this summer. Not because of my lucrative writing career, but because I’ve served my time.

While there have been missed days, and a couple of seasons where I took a break from the project. For better than 90% of the last nine years, I’ve written a minimum of a thousand words a day. Every. Day.

I do best when I write in the morning.

I’m rarely able to start the morning’s writing without taking care of the cat and the dog. That’s unavailable since the coffee maker is downstairs. But there’s something about writing in the quiet of the morning when no one else is awake, or the world isn’t stirring.

Writing in the morning can also help set the tone for the day. Before the distractions set in, there’s a chance to do some writing with a clear head and a blank page. The best part about that is that you can start all over the next morning.

Studies have shown that our brains are often at their sharpest and most creative in the early hours, free from the distractions and fatigue that can creep in later in the day. By capitalizing on this prime thinking time, we can tap into our inspiration and produce work that resonates on a profound level.
It’s hard, but consistency is important. I have my own morning rituals, some mentioned above, and things I need to do before I head out the door to the day job. Although that’s changing soon…just not soon enough.

It takes discipline to write every day. Sometimes it also takes some procrastinating of the other items on the to do list.

It also comes with a great sense of satisfaction.

And something to mark off the to do list.

 

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