heading for international women's day & d.c.

I pulled out of the bay area 5:30 this morning & flew onto 5 south unimpeded by any traffic – the sunrise is stunning - the sun appearing between dark clouds forming a valley with mountains on either side as she smoothly flows up as a huge round red ball traversing the center with another white-ish cloud forming what looks like lightening over the top. The darkend sky soon becomes light and I'm dismayed to see that the air has remained the same as my last trip from the bay area to the grape vine: white haze smoke hovering so thickly it is difficult to read the large price of gas signs several yards off the freeway. Again I’m struck by how ‘normal’ it is to accept such visibly high levels of pollution in our daily lives – or we might have to stop driving.

I have only repainted the back of the truck – I didn’t have time to repaint the side, so imprison bush & asscroft are traveling with me for now. Nancy suggested I change the ‘asscroft’ to ‘gone-zales’ which I will as soon as I can.

The back now reads: “Women say no to war” and under it ‘to lying’ ‘to spying’ ‘to dying’; and on the sides ‘to torture’ ‘to d.u.’ ‘to wmd – ours’ – and then “march 8 international women’s day: Tokyo, Oakland, D.C. NYC, Baghdad, your town”

So far, the yeahs are mostly nods & smiles, although there have been honks & peace signs too. The fuck you’s have been the same – a couple of white males in pickup trucks mostly.

I have made it thru California to Arizona relatively uneventfully, other than almost hitting a highway patrol car on I5 who was chasing down a speeder next to me and having to leave a rest stop in Arizona to keep my batteries!

I glanced in my side mirror and noticed someone barrelling down I5 passing me & right on his tail was a highway patrol car. The speeder noticed the police as he was passing my truck. He pulled over sharply in front of me and then onto the shoulder – the cop tried to follow & even tho i had slowed to about 40 mph, he almost got smashed in his rush trying to be behind the car – at the last moment he pulled over the left onto the center medium instead – good thing 5 is so flat and spacious. He was steaming, over there on the shoulder & I was outta there, pittying the poor speeder.

Later I was getting ready to take a brief nap at a rest stop in Arizona before proceeding to my friends’ home in Tucson. An older white woman got out of the van that was parked next to mine, approached my truck & asked me for $5.00 for gas. I offered her some food, but she wasn’t into fruit & trail mix. I assumed she was by herself but as I prepared to lay down, I heard a young white male over at her van talking to her about how he was sorry he’d yelled at her & how he already had three batteries and just needed one more battery to make it back home.

I’d eyed this young man earlier standing at another van, talking with another woman & my alert antennae had immediately went up. He had that batterer stance and she was leaning back is such a way I couldn’t tell if her position was defensive or fearful. I had lingered on the sidewalk awhile until I was sure she wasn’t in danger & he had moved on.

Hearing him now talking with the womon who’d approached me for money & knowing I have two batteries sitting pretty underneath the left side of my truck not more than 15 feet from him, I decided I’d rest much better at the next stop.

I can’t wait to see my friends & check in w/tuscon! Peace, sam