First Sun, now Rain!

Last night we got back from the Sun Dance in Illinois. As always, there are lots of things to think about, and it will take time to process.

 

When we got back, we heard a bit about how there had been nothing but rain while we were gone, but it was not until today that we realized the full situation. The rain from the past week has been record-breaking, and as a result there has been extensive flooding all along the Susquehanna river, which drains most of Pennsylvania and southern NY and empties into the Chesapeake bay. In some places the projected river heights are double the flood level, but we are not terribly concerned as the people I am staying with are all on high ground, with good roads in between. Some friends, though, are being evacuated, and others are worried about being cut off by flooding.

 

The big question for me is this: do I stick out the flooding here in PA, or try to run up to Boston and avoid the worst of the storming? each part has its own problems, as staying here poses the risk of being stranded for a week or two until the water recedes. Leaving poses the obvious risks of flood related detours or getting cut off upstream.

 

First, though, my priorities are more immediate: get a good shower and clothes in the wash, and trying to treat a weeks worth accumulation of mosquito and chigger bites. The rest will work itself out eventually.

Arrived safely in Pennsylvania

After hastily packing Saturday evening and Sunday, I ended up leaving Los Angeles on Monday morning at 5 am. I drove to Albuquerque. After stopping there for the night, my next destination was Tulsa, Oklahoma. Day Three brought me to Akron, Ohio, and at about 2pm on the fourth day I made my destination of Forksville, PA.

 

Forksville is a tiny tiny town in Rural PA that hosts a powwow which is sponsored by the Eastern Delaware Nation, the group of Native Americans that I got all involved with at Colgate. I haven't seen most of these people in more than two years, and so my time there thus far has been half catching up on the latest with people and half trying to remember who everyone is.

 

The Powwow runs through Sunday, and sometime on Sunday we will pack up and head back to Illinois for the Sun Dance. The location is adjacent to the trail of tears state park just outside Anna, IL, and will keep me occupied and out of contact for exactly one week.

 

Packing

Nothing seems quite so scary as to pack up everything you own and head off to a new place for the first time. I've been freaking out for a week with all the errands that I have been needing to run and just havent got around to yet, but the side effect of that is that the packing, the all-important step, got left till today. Along with the burning of the audiobooks to take on the road.

Packing, of course, is really pretty easy for a guy like me. I have four boxes of books, a miscellaneous box, two suitcases and two computers that i brought home from school. All I'm taking with me now is that same stuff, plus whatever i accidentally accumulated while I was here in LA. That means a bunch of dress clothes, basically.

As it stands, I think I will have everything but the suitcases, dressy clothes, and one computer in the trunk.

The trick is making sure that I've got enough audiobooks. I'm going to be on the road for something like 40 hours. If I'm going to drive safely, I need to be awake, and to be awake, I need to be engaged in something. A conversation. Singing. Listening to a good story. So on this drive, my cell, my music cd's, and my small collection of audiobooks will be invaluable.

In between wakefullness and sleep stand Steven Hawking, Walt Whitman, Howard Zinn, and a couple of recorded lectures. Hopefully more will come soon.

zap! its alive?

i command you to rise forth from my boredom and Live! LIVE! and even LIIIIIIIIVVVEEEEEE!

 

Holy shit, its alive!

 

Run!