Driving and Arriving

We arrived in Chadron on Thursday, 2/24 around 4pm. The drive went pretty well up until near the end. We're now in our apartment surrounded by boxes, no surprise.

We left just one hour late on Monday and drove through West Virginia and stopped overnight in Chillicothe, OH. I really did relive my time in a truck, stopping at two favorite truck stops and re-learning how to drive a diesel truck up and down hills. Driving a truck really does take a lot of attention, keeping in the lane and up to speed. Over the three and a half days I was in a funny transition, residing in a familiar setting while leaving my old home for an unknown new one. When I tried to imagine living in Chadron, I found myself strongly disliking the idea. I wanted to live at home in Durham! I felt I was not giving this new experience a chance, so instead allowed myself to focus on the familiar, thus comforting, setting of the truck.

Two incidents stand out for the trip. The first happened on Tuesday near Covington, IN when police cars started zooming by us. We soon came to a stop behind a 1/4 mile long line of traffic and could see over a dozen police cars of all kinds and jurisdictions up ahead. Since I now had some time to set up the CB radio, I did and learned from the chatter a fugitive was being chased in the nearby wooded area. See the story here: http://tinyurl.com/47ptqpg . Very bizarre. Ann learned how useful, and obscene, CB radio chatter on the channel 19 can be.

The second incident was truly heartening. The truck started acting up when we started out on our final 1/2 day of travel Thursday in Oglalla, NE. We reached Oshkosh, NE and decided to seek a mechanic's opinion, and we were directed to Shannon, the only diesel mechanic for many miles around. He gave us an opinion, encouraged us to call Penske roadside assistance and talked with them, and was far beyond hospitable. He and his wife Melanie offered to let us wait in their house next door while we waited 2.5 hours for a tow truck to arrive, and we talked with them over lunch. They were so thoroughly kind, open and generous that we felt fortunate our truck had broken down! It truly was very real demonstration, and also like an omen, that we are welcome in Nebraska. A mechanic followed by a tow truck came up from Sydney, NE and was familiar with the fuel problem Shannon had diagnosed. This mechanic drove the truck to Chadron, after Ann and I had detached the car trailer and offloaded our car. We preceded the truck, and were able to open the apartment and get set by the time it arrived.

Folks from the church, and some high school students led by an experienced piano mover, offloaded us in 2 hours and left a warm meal for us in a crockpot. We ate and collapsed into bed, grateful for all the help we had recieved that day.

I'm feeling optimistic about being here, still in a learning frame of mind and absorbed in settling in. Unsurprisingly, each person we have met has been friendly and welcoming. While still feeling new to Chadron, I don't feel like a stranger.

2/14/11

Before I get to be new to Nebraska, I get to be old to here. Before I get there, I have to leave here. And that's what I've been doing the past few days, and will for the next week.

My last day at Workplace Options was Thursday, 2/10/11. It was a valuable experience working there and I care for a bunch of people I worked with. Ann and I had a party on Saturday and lots of folks we know from our different local circles came. Like most people my age, I've left people and places before. One way of leave taking is to say goodbye and then do my best not to think of them or stay in touch. This goes along with not being willing to experience the pain of leaving. Another way is to feel bitter, sort of like "If you don't want me in your club, I don't want to be in your stinky old club anyway!". Not terribly mature, but still helpful in keeping some pain at a distance. Another way is to look someone in the eye and lettng them know you love them and will miss them and then you both can cry. I'm trying that out this time and it sucks at keeping the pain away. Good for appreciating who and what you are leaving, though.

So we are touching as much of here and all y'all as we can, filling our eyes and tasting and hearing as much as we can while getting the necessary done. I feel like a baloon expanding with love and anticipating letting all the air out when we land in Chadron. I'm just going to breathe in while here and hold my breath. I know I'll have to exhale at some point, but not just yet.