Dawn Reader

Dawn Reader
from Open Door Coffee Co.; Hudson, OH; Oct. 26, 2016

Tuesday, April 12, 2016

Hartland Sundries, 1


1. Okay, so I missed a blog post yesterday. I hereby surrender my title of Mr. Perfect. Actually, I was in a whirl of work getting ready for this trip today--to Hartland, Michigan (about 200 mi from Hudson and perilously close to Flint!), where, tomorrow (Wed.), I'll be spending the day in the local middle school doing some presentations on Jack London as part of the program, the Big Read, sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities. I'll be with five different classes of seventh graders tomorrow--and that will be the first time I've spent an entire day in a middle school since January 1997, when I retired from (the wonderful) Harmon Middle School in Aurora, Ohio. (Will I survive?)

2. I hate leaving Joyce behind. Hate it!

3. The drive (most of it on the Ohio Turnpike) was very windy, and traffic slowed in many places for construction zones--though I have to say that I was one of the few who seemed interested in observing the 50 mph (I was going 55); most people--trucks, cars, donkeys, whatever--zoomed by me with disdain.

4. The Turnpike looks much different than it did when I was a kid as we headed west. There used to be a grassy median the entire length of the pike--only two lanes each way--and each of the rest areas/service plazas was unique. Now--more lanes and cookie-cutter service plazas. Such is "progress."

5. About twenty miles from my exit (about a mile from my motel) Dyer's Law #748 kicked in: As you approach your final exit after a long drive, there will be (a) construction, (b) an accident, (c) both of the above. Today was (c) for me. Complicating things? I was in, uh, kind of a (physiological) hurry to arrive, if you know what I mean.

6. Anyway, I have arrived safely, have eaten a sub at a chain (not Subway--can't remember the name), and am about to hop into bed (yes, it's only 6:45) to go over a few things for tomorrow--principally, asking myself over and over and over again: Why did I agree to do this?

7. I hate to leave Joyce behind!

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