(Day 58) On long lonely roads and being remembered by family and friends...

I said last night that my gift to myself was going to be skipping todays blog post... well, it has become such a habit to reflect on the day... and well... today there was a lot of straight road that left a lot of time to think!  And be reminded that I am closer to fifty now then was was yesterday!

At some point within the few minutes of leaving the hospitality of my CouchSurfing hosts and snapping the pictures of the sun rising over the interstate that would be my home for the next number of hours the following scene from the Wizard of Oz came to mind...

Dorothy: [has just arrived in Oz, looking around and awed at the beauty and splendor] Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas any more.
Dorothy: [after a pause] We must be over the rainbow!
[a bubble appears in the sky and gets closer and closer. It finally lands, then turns into Glinda the Good Witch wearing a spectacular white dress and crown, holding a wand]
Dorothy: [to Toto] Now I... I know we're not in Kansas! 
And... I knew I wasn't going to stop today until I could say, "I know we're not in Kanasa!"

In Oakley, KS I stopped for breakfast.  Not a Denny's to be found.  The Buckhorn Family Restaurant would have to do.  When in Kansas one must eat like the locals.  I sat beside a guy wearing the biggest cowboy hat I have ever seen and asked, "What's good?"  Through a mouthful of toast he replied, "The chicken steak and eggs!"  Hmmm.  I had that the other night in Utah and quite enjoyed it.  Not the healthiest think for an almost 50 year old man to be eating... ah what the heck!!  So, my birthday breakfast was Chicken Fried Steak and eggs and those shredded potatoes I just love... with toast and coffee.  It was good.  The conversation with Peter Hoar was not so good.

There was something wrong with one of the websites I manage and it needed to be fixed now!  So, through mouthfuls of egg and white gravy I got the registration page for the conference working and I was good to go again.

Straight roads leave a mind with lots of space to think... and so I thought about all the people that had posted birthday greetings to me on Facebook by that time.  42 of you... you know who you are.  I thought about how blessed I have been to have been gifted with time with each of you in so many different ways: weddings, funerals, family fun times, community gatherings, work related events and so on and so on... and then this evening when I stopped there were another 30 or so... people from as far away as Sweden and a close as the house I so look forward to returning to!

Thank you to each one of you for the birthday greetings - knowing how cared for those greetings made me feel I will be more intentional in sending a notes to others whose birthdays are coming up!

There really is not much to say about Kansas.  It is beautiful.  And flat.  And straight.  And windy.

Hence the wind farms.


Below is one of the few hills in eastern Kansas.


That was all the pictures I took in Kansas.

At about 8PM I stopped in Ozark, MO.  I had travelled 1148 KM at an average speed of 88 KM/H.


 It was a long day... but a good one.  The praires are behind me as are the memories of 46 years of doing my best to live as fully and as faithfully as possible... and tomorrow the sun will rise again and it will be another day filled with wonder and awe and possibility... on the Sabbath Road...

I finished off my day with supper at the Rib Crib - a US Chain that serves... RIBS... yup... you guessed it!  And as luck would have it, Tuesday night was all-you-can-eat ribs...  The guy who waited on me was a great individual.  He will go far in life.  He all but sat down at the table and asked me about my day and was so attentive.  Sorry I didn't get your name... but keep up the good work.  You make people feel good - and more of that is needed in the world!  Thanks for a great experience!
Awesome!!  The salad was really good!!!

More Ribs... I left two... I was stuffed!!

And because it was my birthday I got a free raspberry cheesecake.
I took it "to go" and am enjoying it as I type this update!
The only thing that would have made my birthday better would have been to have had all my friends and family around the table for ribs this evening.  It was kind of lonely eating alone... but there were lots of good memories and good energy... and, I am 1148 KM closer to Sackville, NB!!
Location: Ozark, MO, USA

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