At the Garden City IHOP

So, cleared out Dodge quickly and rolled onto Garden City. I sat agonizingly watching as a job "close to home" (3 hours) price out higher and higher, with me having no way to do it. It would require a 6 hour drive, and that's about the time till I needed to be there. As if that wasn't enough, it was an overnight job, so by the time I finished I would be 24 hours up, with a 6 hour drive in the heat in between. Not good.

Still, it killed me when that one went in.

There were two places I could put in for the night; the WalMart and a truck stop on the north side of town. I chose the WalMart and was glad I did, when a storm rolled in with hurricane force winds blowing from the north. The highway provided a berm that minimized the wind effects in the WalMart lot. Still strong, but not as strong as it would have been without a windbreak.

I stood outside in the wind and the storm (no rain yet, just a lot of wind and fireworks off to the east. I have to admit, the kid part of me wanted to run inside the WalMart and by a Thor costume, but I have a strong feeling that would have acquainted me with the community's fine mental health facilities.

I had to stop at the library, where the printer is down due to a "hardware issue". Thinking about stopping by to offer my services on "no risk" terms; if I don't fix it, they don't pay. It's worth a shot at least, I guess.

Walking to the IHOP after the storm, I couldn't help but notice a large banner stuck to the fence. I couldn't help but smile. Some years ago, I happened across an older homeless man digging through a construction dumpster trying to salvage materials to build a kite that would set a world record for altitude. I don't think he ever made it, but I'm certain he would have loved that banner. It was well constructed.

His story has always served to remind me that everyone has dreams. Even if they don't matter much in our eyes. I tried to write a song about it, but, well, the verdict wasn't good. I've advanced a bit in songwriting since, though, so I may have to give it a go again sometime.