Back in GJ. Uneventful drive, although it was a little dicey going through that one mountain pass that starts around Spanish Fork, UT, and ends…somewhere an hour later. Anyone who’s driven any stretch of snowy, foggy road would probably consider it child’s play, but I’m a tropical/desert/Southern girl! I don’t do snowy roads! Especially if they involve some twisting and turning, and the road is a two-lane, bidirectional one. Hate those.
Still, I enjoyed the chance to just step away from the usual hustle and bustle and just drive, you know? I once drove from Columbia, SC, to Dallas, TX, in one day — a long, 17-hour stretch that started around 4:00 Eastern and ended sometime after 9:00 Central. I’d had about 3 hours of sleep, and I wasn’t a coffee drinker at the time, so my fuel was simply depression, having just broken up with my then-boyfriend of five years. I popped in my favorite CD’s on my ailing Subaru GL, kept my cell phone nearby, and just drove west on I-20 until I got home. I have to say, as bad as I was feeling at the time, it was probably one of the best drives of my life.
Today wasn’t nearly as eventful, although I at least had some caffeine in me, courtesy of a 5:45 am run to Starbucks this morning. I’d started listening to the unabridged audiobook CD “Condaleeza Rice: An American Life” on Sunday afternoon, so I plowed through a few more discs of it today. Fascinating stuff. I especially loved the little — almost throwaway — anecdote where Rice talked about the time her car overheated somewhere in the rural South when she was in graduate school. The white mechanic “brusquely” told her to “put it over there,” and Rice instinctively snapped, “Why?” The man looked at her and said in a meek voice, “‘Cause then it’ll be in the shade and might cool down.” Rice recalls that little incident presumably to illustrate just how sensitive she was — understandably so, given her childhood growing up in the heart (hell?) of the most racist city in America at the time, Birmingham, AL — and how much she needed to give people the benefit of the doubt. It reminds me of me sometimes, and how I can be what some people might think of as overly sensitive when it comes to what I may perceive as a racist or sexist remark. It’s certainly not entirely unwarranted; after all, when you grow up constantly being perceived as “the Other,” as many people of color do in the predominantly white culture of America, it can be difficult to let go of one’s guard, even when the other party may be entirely innocent or not meaning any malicious harm. But it definitely is a reminder that times and people do change, and it’s often the best route to simply assume the best in people. Certainly it makes for a peaceful self, if not a peaceful world.
Anyway.
I haven’t reached today’s NaNoWriMo quota, as I immediately went to KAFM (local community radio station) for an interview right after I got into town. For once I was the one being interviewed, and not the other way around. A funny feeling for a journalist, I have to say, but not entirely unpleasant. As I often find when I do my own interviews, most people love to talk about themselves, especially if you ask the right questions, and apparently I’m no exception. Funny.
Hi Marjorie:>>Glad you made it back from SLC okay. Aside from the Mormon Tabernacle, which is a great building, I agree there isn’t much save for IKEA. There is one little corner of downtown that can be fun.>It’s located < HREF="http://www.deadgoat.com" REL="nofollow">here<>.>>In case you need it in the future, that pass is called Soldier Summit and it’s between Spanish Fork and Helper. >>Take care, good luck with the speed novel.>>John
Dear <>John<>, greetings! So good to see you here. I’m so sorry for the delay in my response to your comment. >>I’m supposed to go back to SLC in a couple of weeks to see some friends, so I’m going to give it another try. I do think it has potential — I mean, lots of cafes and indie shops, which look promising — but I didn’t have enough time or energy to explore them. >>Oh, and thank you for the info abut the pass! Yes, that’s exactly what I’m talking about. I loved going around the bend and seeing those gorgeous wind turbines sweeping the sky just over the ridge. I used to work as a developer for a wind company and still get choked up when I see those babies.>>Novel is going speedily and surprisingly well. Onward and upward! You know, one of these days you should join in on NaNoWriMo, if you have a chance. It’s not really as scary as it sounds. In fact, now that I’m in my 2nd year and am familiar with how it goes, I actually love it. Crazy, huh?>>Cheers,>Marjorie