DRUM ROLL PLEASE

Sadly for us, but happily for Crystal she is still safe and sound with her mother in the hay-filled barn at Crystal Creek Ranch.

For Gene's very different view of the same journey, check out his blog at www.ConnorsArmy.blogspot.com
To learn more about Connor's Army go to www.ConnorsArmy.org
To see exactly why we're doing this go to www.SunriseDayCamp.org
To make a tax deductible donation go to https://www.wizevents.com/register/register_add.php?sessid=1809&id=1056

CRYSTAL THE CROSS COUNTRY KITTEN

Crystal was cold.

She’d been nice and warm while the gentle Great Pyrenees had surrounded her with white fur, but now the dogs were gone and she wasn’t quite sure why.

Maybe it had something to do with the big black car that had come to a creaking stop on the dirt road next to where she’d found herself when she’d crawled out the open barn door late last night.  It had seemed like such a good idea at the time.  She’d been so curious about what was outside the hay-filled confines of the only home she remembered.  But as soon as Farmer Bill had shut everyone in for night, Crystal had known she was on the wrong side of the door.

She heard strange noises and could sense creatures beyond her limited vision whose interest in her was not friendly.  She’d made a big mistake.  She sat in the field mewing faintly and shivering as much from fear as from the chill night mountain air.

From out of the dark two shaggy forms had materialized, circling her as they sniffed.  She’d mewed desperately hoping against hope that her puffed up fur would scare away these huge creatures.

The shapes had moved closer and Crystal had backed away as fast as her unsteady legs would let her; but before she knew it there’d been a cold wet nose in her face.  She’d closed her eyes and curled up into a ball, crying piteously.

That was when the two dogs began their nightlong guard, wrapped around the tiny terrified kitten.  The unlikely trio had stayed like that all night, until the noisy minivan had come rattling down the road in the predawn light.

Now the warmth of the dogs was gone, and Crystal’s tiny mews reached new ears.

Getting out of the car, the woman in pajamas tried to figure out where the obviously very young kitten had come from.  She scooped up the shivering ball of fur and held it close, trying to give some of her body warmth to the tiny creature.

“It’s okay, Sweetie,” she cooed.  “It’s okay.”

Crystal like the sound of her voice and crawled up to snuggle into her neck.

“Oh, you’re so cute,” said the woman.  “How do you think she got out by the road?”

“I don’t know,” came a much lower voice.  “But why don’t I hold her while you drive?”

Crystal was handed to a man who held her up to look into her face.

“She’s very young.”

“I’d say about two or three weeks,” answered the woman.

The man smelled like milk and Crystal realized she was hungry.  As soon as he held her closer she searched for the source of that smell.  When she finally found it, she started licking and sucking as she would have if her mother had been there.

“She’s sucking my lip,” he laughed.  She continued, though it was frustrating not getting any milk.

“Here,” said the woman, “wrap her in this and I can hold her on my lap as I drive back.”  Crystal was smothered in soft green fabric that warmed her instantly.  “See you later,” called the woman as the man rode away on his bicycle.

As the car rocked its way back onto the farm, Crystal forgot her hunger and let herself doze off in the warmth of the woman’s lap.

She stirred vaguely as she was carried into a tidy little cabin, but didn’t fully wake up until that smell of milk came to her again.  This time it was on the woman’s fingers, and it was warm.  Crystal licked the fingers and nibbled at them, but couldn’t get as much milk as she wanted.

“Not too much, Sweetie.  It’s not really good for you, but you just seem so hungry.”  This woman knew what Crystal was feeling.  And she was so gentle.  Crystal liked her.

She tried to purr to let the woman know how happy she was, but she was too busy trying to get more milk.  She was concentrating so hard, in fact, that she didn’t feel the woman move her to the soft bed.

“Sarah,” she heard, “open your eyes.”  Only inches away, a pair of light brown eyes looked directly into her own and widened.

“A kitten!”

She was scooped up again to repeat the process.

“William, open your eyes.”  This time the eyes next to hers were bright blue.  And a pair of dark brown ones popped up over William’s head.

“She’s so cute!  You put her in my polar fleece!  Never ever wash it!”

From that moment things were a commotion of petting, cuddling, and cooing.  Crystal was in heaven.  She’d never had this much attention before and she definitely liked it.

Even when they left the little house and walked past the barn she’d been born in, she was content to stay wrapped in the soft green polar fleece as Sarah, William and James took turns begging their mama.

“Can we keep her?”

“Where’s her mother?”

“What if she has no mother?”

“What if she needs someone to take care of her?”

“Kiddos,” their mama protested only half-heartedly, “I’m sure she has a mother.  Besides, we’re living in a minivan.”

“She’s so small.  She won’t take up much space.”

“But, guys, what about Lily?”

“Lily would want to take care of her.”

“We can introduce her to Lily like you’re supposed to.”

“But we’re staying in hotels, and a lot of them don’t allow pets.”  Mama’s protests were definitely getting fainter and they could sense victory within their grasp.

“Then I’ll sleep out in the car with her.”

“Sarah.  You can’t sleep in the car.”

“Then we can sneak her in.”

“Yeah.  She’s not very noisy.  Just that little tiny mew.”

“And I can put her under my shirt.”

“She’s too young to leave her mother.”

“But what if she doesn’t have a mother?”

“But I’m sure she does.”

“But what if she doesn’t?”

“If she doesn’t have a mother, can we take her?”

“I don’t know.  Let’s not talk about this any more.  We’ll ask Bill about her.”

“Just promise you’ll think about it.”

“I’ll think about it.”

“Really?!”

“Really.”

“You’ll think about it.”

“I’m thinking, I’m thinking.  Enough.”

Crystal listened to the arguments and tried to figure out what she wanted.  She liked this bouncy family, but she loved the warm hay in the barn that tickled her nose with its smell.  And now she knew the gigantic dogs were her friends.

“Oh, you can take her if you want her,” said Farmer Bill.  “She was dumped here a few days ago.  People do that all the time figuring we’re a farm and can take care of the animals.  But we have no mother cat to nurse her and no time to hand feed her ourselves, so she’d probably be better off with you.”

“Really?”  The children were beside themselves.

 “Mama?”

“I know I’m going to regret this, but if she has no mother … then, well, yes.”

Crystal snuggled into the green polar fleece and for the first time in her three week life she purred.

ALTERNATE ENDING:

Crystal listened to the arguments and tried to figure out what she wanted.  She liked this bouncy family, but she loved the warm hay in the barn that tickled her nose with its smell.  And now she knew the gigantic dogs were her friends.

 “Oh, she has a mother,” said Farmer Bill.  “She’s in the barn.  There are other kittens in there, too; but I haven’t seen them.  I’ve only heard them.  Do you want to help me bring her back there?”

“Okay,” the disappointment of the children was obvious but Crystal wasn’t sure how she felt.

As they opened the door, two kittens came bouncing out of the shadows welcoming their sister back into the fold.  The children played with the three balls of fur as they tumbled in and out of the hay until it was time to go.

Crystal watched them leave and felt almost as sad as they did.  But then her mother licked her and she remembered she had her own family who loved her, and for the first time in her three week life she purred.

So which ending do you think is the real one?

For Gene's very different view of the same journey, check out his blog at www.ConnorsArmy.blogspot.com
To learn more about Connor's Army go to www.ConnorsArmy.org
To see exactly why we're doing this go to www.SunriseDayCamp.org
To make a tax deductible donation go to https://www.wizevents.com/register/register_add.php?sessid=1809&id=1056

LUCK BE A LADY

Ah …

Silence.

It’s six’o’clock in the morning and the usual wild hubbub of three frenetically happy children has been replaced by the gentle singsong of two sweetly waking birds.

It is a big day.

Sarah, William, and James are riding with Daddy for the first part of today’s seventy mile leg.  I’ll pick the boys up in Selkirk about twelve miles away then drive on another eighteen miles to Marianthal where we’ll wait for Sarah.

But for the moment I have an hour and fifteen precious minutes to myself.

What to do?

I eat a leisurely breakfast while reading a year old copy of "Better Homes and Gardens" and ponder the possibilities.

I try to get on-line to check my email without three little heads alternating their mutual “Can I get on the computer?” query.  In this lovely cottage there is no wifi, but I’ve had a bit of luck tapping into the unsecured networks of the houses around us.

No such luck this morning.

I attempt to call my voicemail and check messages in this signal deficient hamlet where “No Network Coverage” is about the only text message I’ve received for days.  Every so often, though, I can grab a stray edge of the cell service that seems to float overhead like an elusive jet stream; and touch base with my life back home.

No such luck this morning.

I do some yoga stretches to loosen up my 52-years-old-in-six-weeks back, which has out of the blue decided it doesn’t like sitting in the car for two or three hours a day.  Neither does it like lugging heavy bags to and from upper story walk-up motel rooms every day.  Nor does it like sleeping in beds that vary from rock hard to saggy soft every night.  For the past two weeks my yoga and Pilates classes have really paid off by giving me tools to help ease the stiffness at the start of each day.

No such luck this morning.

I drive over to the old water tower I spotted yesterday hoping to get some nice early morning shots for a photo study I’m working on.  A frail mist of clouds floats in an anemic blue pool of sky.  I’d wanted a bright expanse of cloudless azure to contrast with the ragged edges and dingy silver of the tower.  Ah, well.  Perhaps the similarity will actually create a more dramatic shot than the disparity I’d been envisioning.

No such luck this morning.

I shoot what I can and head back to the car with exactly forty-five minutes to go till I have to meet mi famiglia.  It's precisely enough time to have a leisurely drive to our meeting point, and then indulge in one of my secret pleasures.  Tweezing my eyebrows.  Yes, my favorite location for that grooming ritual is parked in a sunny spot with the car facing directly into the early day’s rays while I use the driver’s seat mirror to pluck any errant hairs.  And my shaggy brows are screaming for their toilette.

No such luck this morning.

The minivan’s self-locking system, which has never worked before, has decided to spontaneously repair itself this morning.  Perhaps it was because of the unaccustomed quiet in this town of 741 (according to the 2010 census).  Perhaps it was because of the tender loving care the car has received from me.  Perhaps Tribune, Kansas is some sort of Lourdes for motor vehicles.  Whatever the reason, it has done so with my keys and admittedly useless cell phone sitting on the front seat.  The nice man who stops to help tells me that the sheriff “should be here in a couple minutes.”

No such luck this morning.

Forty-five minutes later I thank the sheriff and finally get in the car.  The clock reprimands me.  Gene estimated they’d be traveling about eight miles an hour, so I may still have time to get ahead of them and film my three progeny on the road with their Dad.

No such luck this morning.

When I arrive at our proscribed meeting place, the children are in various phases of melting in the already blazing Great Plains sun.

“Where were you?”

“We’ve been waiting almost an hour!”

“Daddy was having vivid doom-filled fantasies.”  (Sarah loves to quote my blog back to me.)

“They went faster than I thought they would,” Gene told me after I explained what happened.

"How was it?" I ask.

“It was great!”

“We rode twelve miles!”

“We’ve never ridden that far.”

“I’m hot.”

“I’m tired.”

“I need water.”

"I need air conditioning."

“Do you have a snack?”

Ah …

Cacaphony.

Sometimes you don’t know how lucky you are until your luck runs out.

 

For Gene's very different view of the same journey, check out his blog at www.ConnorsArmy.blogspot.com
To learn more about Connor's Army go to www.ConnorsArmy.org
To see exactly why we're doing this go to www.SunriseDayCamp.org
To make a tax deductible donation go to https://www.wizevents.com/register/register_add.php?sessid=1809&id=1056

HERDING CATS … ON BICYCLES

The Will Rogers Highway, The Great Diagonal Way, The Main Street of America, The Mother Road.

Whatever you choose to call it, Route 66 is arguably the most legendary piece of pavement in America (apologies to Broadway and Wall Street).  So it came as no surprise that Gene’s excitement at riding its famed blacktop would rub off on the kids.

After rising ridiculously early to backtrack to Ash Fork so Gene wouldn’t miss those 17 miles (see yesterday’s blog), the four of us headed back to our luxurious Motel 6 accommodations (see yesterday’s blog again) with plenty of the time for the Sarah, William and James to have a swim in the indoor pool before donning their Connor’s Army Ride Across America jerseys.

When Gene pulled into the hotel’s parking lot two hours later they all hopped on their bikes and, with various versions of “Get Your Kicks on Route 66” playing in their imaginations, they headed off to live out so many people’s fantasies.

I, of course, drove ahead to chronicle this historic moment in Connor family history.

As I filmed the four of them weaving their way through the morning tourist traffic I almost cried at the amazing memory they’ll have for the rest of their lives.  Then they passed me and all I heard was:

“Stay in a single line.”

“Stop at the stop sign.”

“Don’t ride next to each other.”

“Look before you ride across the street.”

“Single file!”

“Guys, pay attention to the cars.”

And I felt a moment of guilty but gleeful validation as Gene experienced for a half hour or so what I’m going through every day.

You see, there are three of them and there’s only one of me.  Controlling them when they’re excited and want to run off in three different directions is as difficult as keeping three cats in a straight line through a seafood market.  And on this trip they’re excited about something almost every day, so I spend a lot of my time herding cats.

Of course, I’m usually doing it on foot without cars whizzing by within inches of their pedaling legs so he was definitely getting short end of the stick.

I let myself spend a few moments zenning out while listening to my music on the radio, before gathering my kittens and heading off towards our next stop.


For Gene's very different view of the same journey, check out his blog at www.ConnorsArmy.blogspot.com

To learn more about Connor's Army go to www.ConnorsArmy.org

To see exactly why we're doing this go to www.SunriseDayCamp.org

To make a tax deductible donation go to https://www.wizevents.com/register/register_add.php?sessid=1809&id=1056

WE'RE GOING LOONY TUNES!

Driving down an Arizona desert highway I saw an honest-to-god real-life roadrunner.  About ten minutes later William saw a desert fox.  We chose to believe it was a larger cousin and named him Wile E. Coyote.  Beep, beep!!


www.ConnorsArmy.org
To make a donation go to https://www.wizevents.com/register/register_add.php?sessid=1809&id=1056
Check out Gene's blog at www.ConnorsArmy.blogspot.com

IF IT’S GREEN IT MUST BE A VEGETABLE

The one of hardest things about traveling for two and a half months with an entire family in tow is keeping up the healthy diet we’re used to at home.  The temptation is eat the way you do on vacation when you throw caution to the wind, indulge your every culinary whim, and eliminate the words ‘healthy’ and ‘diet’ from your vocabulary.  Big restaurant breakfasts on warm oversized plates complete with hash browns and toast, fries with every carb-rich lunch, and Thanksgiving-size dinners every night.  Not to mention lots and lots of ice cream.

For the first week I let everyone revel in the summer vacation feeling.  After all, we were spending most of our time stuck in a minivan on the interstate.  We needed something to look forward to every few hours.  But now I’m faced with nine more weeks of living on the road in places where if vegetables even make an appearance on the menu it means canned green beans cooked to mushy perfection.

Last night I worked hard to keep my children, who love green beans from the farm stand, from making faces and calling the green mass they received at my insistence disgusting.  Although I have to admit that it was.

Today I was told about a great grocery store here in eensy-weensy Salome, Arizona that had wonderful produce.  Since this recommendation came from the New York ex-pat  who owns the funky motel we’re staying in, I allowed myself to get excited at the thought of broccoli or spinach or (dare I hope) asparagus.  By this point even the kids are excited at the thought of fresh vegetables.

We walked into the tiny all-purpose grocery, liquor, general store with hearts high and mouths watering.  I found plenty of onions.  Potatoes, too.  A few wilted stalks of celery.  Over-ripe peaches, green bananas, and some apples.

“Where are the vegetables?” my disappointed taste-buds wailed.  “We want cauliflower.  We want Brussel sprouts.  We want dark green leafy things rich in iron.”

“Be patient,” I cajoled them.  “We’re in the middle of the Arizona desert.  Fresh produce has a very different definition here.”

I put two bags of frozen mixed vegetables into my basket and dreamed of Kansas farmland.

I’M THE THIRD WHEEL ON THE BICYCLE

I’m feeling superfluous.

Today was probably the day we were most worried about.  Only three days out and Gene would be riding through some of the most barren, arid, sun-beaten desert we’ll pass through on our whole trip.  And even more distressing, there was that forty-five mile stretch between Brawley and Palo Verde with absolutely nothing, not even a rest stop, for him to get water.

He had the bladder, which holds a liter, filled with ice and three large water bottles.  But the way he’d been sucking down water on the first two days, we knew they’d never last the whole stretch.

We carefully planned.

He rose early to beat the desert heat and was on the road by 5:45am.  We were to follow at 7:15am so we could catch up with him around the thirty mile mark, after about two hours on the road, with three gallons of water and a cooler full of ice.

Imagine my panic when we awoke at 7:45am, a full half hour after we were already supposed to have left!  The kids ate breakfast while I loaded the van, but it still took me 45 minutes to get us all out of the hotel and driving down Route 78.

My stress level built with each mile of deserted sand dunes and each hour of unrelenting sun that had passed since he left.  The only thing we went by was a Border Patrol checkpoint, where the guards held back their contraband sniffing dog and assured us that my husband hadn’t looked dehydrated when he’d gone through there forty-five minutes earlier.

I breathed a sigh of relief but raced onward nonetheless, picturing him hallucinating and heading out into the desert on his bicycle to wander aimlessly until finally succumbing to the heat and leaving us to find his bleached bones months later.

I’m very good at creating vivid doom-filled fantasies.

When he finally appeared in our windshield view, there was much cheering and gathering of cold water bottles.

We jumped out of the car expecting an exhausted and water-craving man.  Instead we were met by good spirits and the information that he had plenty of water because he’d found a small place to refill his bottles, and his bladder was still contained half its icy water.

I was both relieved and disappointed at the same time.

I mean, if he didn’t need us today on this most grueling of rides where hydration could really mean the difference between life and death, why were we here?  We were supposed to be his support team, his link to water and sustenance, his spirit lifter when it all seemed too much for him.  Instead he was well equipped for all the obstacles that had come his way so far – mountains, desert, long distances, heat.  I’m very proud of him for how prepared he is for this journey.

Now I need to find my purpose and reason to be here.

DO I WANT TO BE ON TOP OR ON THE BOTTOM?

I’ve discovered that there’s a major decision to be made each day when I check into our hotel.  If it’s one of those cute old-fashioned middle-of-the-country motels with only one story, then it’s a moot point.  But if it’s got even one more story, I’m faced with a conundrum worthy of Solomon.

Do I want peace and quiet, or peace of mind?

In other words, do I want to stay on the top floor so there’s no one walking above us, or do I want to stay on the first floor so we’re not walking above anyone?  In the first instance, we have a better chance for an undisturbed night and morning; but I’m faced with the effort to keep my kids from jumping around, bouncing on the beds, leaping from bed-to-bed (a favorite forbidden activity), and being generally elephantine.  It’s exhausting and leads to yelling, so that we’re not only annoying the people below us, but also those on either side.

It’s been ten days on the road, and I have to admit that so far the selfish side of me has won out every time.  After all, once I’ve calmed down my three darlings and gotten them to sleep, the last thing I want is some heavy-footed businessman or, god forbid, a family with kids making noise above us that might wake them up.