Today, all I can think about is "I miss you." "I love you." "Thank you."
Last night I couchsurfed in Oklahoma City. The host was having a cookout and was busy cooking and running around, so we never really talked...at all. His friends, though very happy attractive people, were very into their own scene and spent hours looking at their iPhones which had pictures and videos from the party they had on Friday night. It made me feel like I was literally watching an episode of Saved by the Bell: the College Years. Awkward turtle for me. Some asked about me, including a pretty accountant from Alabama and a man with one light green eye and one dark brown eye. The couch host (ridiculously A.C. Slater) spent the night out, but came back this morning to kick me out before he went to work. Uhh...
He explained that he slept out because the girl he's dating (who I met at the party) is very jealous. It made me laugh a lot. A petite beautiful brunette threatened by moi? How silly!
It was overcast, but I needed to find a place to hoop. The people last night told me to go to the memorial for the 2005 bombing. Of course, this was not a place to hoop, but I'm glad I went. The outdoor symbolic memorial was so peaceful and meaningful. I sat on the side of the reflecting pool and cried. Everything was so real. The empty chairs. The survivor tree. My heart ached for the families who lost loved ones. A ghetto man approached me..."You knew someone that died?" I replied, "No, I'm just visiting." He said, "Me too....just.....visiting." More awkward turtle. But beautiful.
I liked how OKC was set up. On a map I saw, there were color-coated divisions such as Bricktown, Mid-town, Arts, and Auto. Through the city I saw murals of the history of Oklahoma, and even murals of Oklahoma! the musical.
I drove out on 40W for a few hours. Nothing but grass and cows. I stopped at a Sonic for lunch, and they forgot about me so I got a free meal! And boyyyyy does free Sonic taste good...
I was thinking about food a lot on the road. I haven't eaten so well on the road, as it is difficult on a budget and when couchsurfers offer delicious burgers. I'm optimistic that I will develop good healthy habits in Santa Fe. I just want to get there.
Rt. 40 today seemed like a line dividing good from evil. If I looked up or to the right (North), I saw the edge of dark dangerous billowy clouds. The left was like angel white fluffy clouds and blue skies. To the right I saw lightning bolts and that made me nearly freeze. I'm not sure if it was just my eyes freaking me out, but Oklahoma and Texas sure like to kick up some dirt in funnel shapes from ground to sky. I felt like Dorothy when she ran away from home.
Eventually I got so scared that I stopped in a motel in Amarillo, TX. It looks like a castle and I thought, "Well, I am a princess." So for $27.99 I'm here for the night.
It was a musical day. At the memorial all I could think of is "Empty Chairs and Empty Tables." Oklahoma! signs haunted me in the city, as if I couldn't stop cracking myself up with cliche musical ideas already. As a break from my super-awesome, specially-made roadtrip CD, I popped Wicked in the CD player to listen through the music and envision how it was on broadway. Already feeling like Dorothy or even Elphaba, each word brought me back to a memory, a person, or a feeling. I had an urge to defy gravity and tell everyone that "because I knew you, I have been changed for good."
Like a silly girl I cried for hours, driving what seemed to be nowhere. Tired and homesick, I thought about my family and friends and how thankful I am for everything I have been granted in the past 21 years. I wanted to write a letter in the clouds.
Dear New Jersey,
I miss you.
Love,
KC
No comments:
Post a Comment