* This is a re-post from September. Apologies to long -time readers. I am re-posting for some new visitors to the site. September 2, 2011 I hear the low rumble of trucks on the freeway from my porch, back home from my 8,600 mile odyssey. What just last night felt like a predator, the rattle and whirr of tractor trailer rigs, crowding me closer, closer and closer with each mile nearer home, now seems a seductress calling from a distance. It’s like a pack of … [Read more...]
It Gets Settled
January 1, 2012 By
If I could reach out to the victims of Jerry Sandusky with a single message, it would be this: someday it just won’t matter anymore. Before somebody throws a molotov cocktail through my front window, please hear me out. I’m not saying that what happened to them wasn’t criminal. I’m not saying that the perpetrator and the people who served as his de facto accomplices with their silence and accommodation, shouldn’t be punished. Heads should roll. It’s just that in the … [Read more...]
The Last Detail
December 4, 2011 By
Here’s the thing about going on a road trip across America alone with your dog. She can vouch for nothing. When I say, “Hey Lib, remember that herd of big horn sheep in Colorado that were really close to the highway?” she just looks at me with this blank puppy-dog stare. I’ve been engaging in this a lot lately, this one-sided reminiscing. As other duties, like raking up the the 9,000 pounds of autumn confetti littering my yard, now supplanted by the terror of … [Read more...]
Thanks for Coming, Don’t Forget to Tip Your Waitress
November 11, 2011 By
So I’ve got all this neglected content from the journey, you know. And I’m weaving it into the book, seen from the rear view mirror now, and some of this material will make the cut and some of it, well, we’ll see. I’ve been juggling a freelance job, a part-time job, plus nights and weekends at the Webster University library. A lovely, elderly Chinese man and I occupy the same two tables on the fourth floor where the rituals from the road have now been replaced by the … [Read more...]
Amarillo or Vail? The Answer Is Not So Obvious
September 24, 2011 By
I order a vodka tonic, with my frequent flier drink coupon and settle back to look out the window at the clouds at 33,000 feet. I feel overwhelmingly sad today -- the realities of managing the pressing demands of financial catch-up, not to be confused with ketchup, stringing along one freelance gig after another just to make the house payment, while I work feverishly on the book outline and pray to the publishing gods for an A-D-V-A-N-C-E, I get caught short on … [Read more...]
I Will Never Leave You
September 2, 2011 By
I hear the low rumble of trucks on the freeway from my porch, back home from my 8,600 mile odyssey. What just last night felt like a predator, the rattle and whirr of tractor trailer rigs, crowding me closer, closer and closer with each mile nearer home, now seems a seductress calling from a distance. It’s like a pack of cigarettes in the dresser drawer, a bottle of booze in the cupboard, it is simply, there. Get in the car and just drive away, drive to the next town, … [Read more...]
U-turn in Utah
August 30, 2011 By
I used to work with a great new shooter in St. Louis who said, "you know it's not really a story until you've had to make three U-turns." That was back in the day before GPS, when TV reporters, riding shotgun, were expected to read the map at the speed of spot news. This was typically about 80 mph, while the "shooter" (aka "videographer") at the wheel, was hollering "which way am I supposed to fucking turn?" They hated missing the flames. I was clippin' along at about … [Read more...]
Tommy and Beverly Were Lovers
August 27, 2011 By
I hate saying goodbye. I left my son Nate and his wife, Melissa, in Los Angeles and drove up the coast a few days ago, my melancholy usurped by nerves. I hadn't really felt this way yet. One would think a gal with a dog, who's not too adept at changing tires or reading GPS, facing a daunting journey of more than 8,000 miles would be a little jumpy from time to time. Well, sure, when the sun goes down and I've still got 162 miles to go until my next stop and my eyes … [Read more...]
The Best Day of My Life, So Far (by Libby)
August 26, 2011 By
Hello humans, I figure it's about time you heard it from the horse's mouth, well really the dog's mouth. And by the way, horses are huge and scare the crap out of me and sometimes they wear these scary masks! Cows are worse. And elevators! OMG! So far no snakes, but we've got four more states to go, I heard Jean talking on the phone. But, what the hell? If Sean got a crack at a "guest post" then it's high time it was my turn. Nobody asked me if I … [Read more...]
When I Had to Draw My Weapon
August 23, 2011 By
In observance of taking the on-ramp onto EASTBOUND 80 last night out of San Francisco which signifies, ladies and gentlemen, that I'm St. Louis bound, after what will no doubt be a pivotal plot twist stop here today in El Dorado Hills, California, I wanted to deal with a little road trivia. These factoids will not garner you any prizes because they will never surface at any organized trivia night, UNLESS I get a best-selling book out of this little jaunt and the trivia … [Read more...]
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