Here we go. I actually have some time to sit down and write a bunch of stuff down. First I must attend to the blog so that the readers won’t get too antsy. I drove from Richmond to Atlanta. Little traffic, easy construction, and the awesome 70 mph speed limit on Southern highways made for an easy trip. The nine hours wasn’t so bad. Despite the application and reapplication of sunblock, my right upper arm and shoulder got nicely burned. Oooow. Good think I had the aloe gel with lidocaine in my trunk. Mmmm.

I told Chris about my sunburn and he immediatly said, “As bad as when you got sunburned through the window at Burger King?”

Damn him, I’d FORGOTTEN about that!

At Sara’s, she looks at me and says, “You are the whitest person I know.”

Her brother Grant, who is as white as me and who Sara said could be MY brother we look so much alike, said, “We come from the land of ice and snow.”

Stupid ice and snow!

Driving through the South makes me remember how large the states are down here. In New England, you can go through six states in five hours. Down here, it takes five hours to get across ONE state. I miss the DC radio stations, too. Down here it’s country and radio preaching. NPR is a constant and can keep me awake with their updates on Israel and Palestine. Another show was about Title IX. Problem with Southern radio is that it’s filled with radio preachers and preaching. About half of them sound JUST like NPR announcers until you hear “..and then God can save you, if you just open up your arms…”

My finger reflexively hits the scan button when I hear it. An NPR program mentioned something about lacrosse and it’s American Indian origins…another idea to look at for a story. If Dan Forbes is reading this (though I doubt it, he STILL hadn’t looked at the site when I left NH) then there’s a book he should pick up. It’s called “Go Girl” and is about girls’ sports today. 1) Dan has 3 daughers 2) Dan coaches girls sports teams 3) Dan has a penchant for saying “go girl” and embarassing the person he says it to if they’re over the age of 10.

A license plate I saw read: MCPOPE. Oh man. The nuances of that…the Catholic Church and McDonalds are in cahoots! You know what that means about Ronald McDonald…I was always suspect.

As I get further into the South and drive toward Atlanta to see Leanne and Chris and Ben, I think about Evan (not Brackie). He’s the one who introduced me to Orson Scott Card. He and Lauren were my best friends for a long time. A lot of things in my life I have associated with them. Now it’s like they’re tainted. How to untaint them? There must be a way.

No matter where you go, at least it seems in the US, when the windows are open and you’re bored driving on a highway, you’ll put your arm and hand out of the window and catch the air. When you’re driving at high speeds, the air is almost solid, like you can grab it. I see people in front of me doing that all the time, and I know that I do that all the time too. A universal wave of sorts, we’re all fascinated by some of the same tactile things.

Oglethorpe, the father of Georgia. In my 10th grade US History course, Coach Stokes used to ask Faith this every day. “Who’s the father of georgia?” Why? because she didn’t know the first time and EVERY Georgian should know that Oglethorpe is the father of georgia.

Who’s the father of Georgia?

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