"Freedom is not free" rest stop
Leaving Flagstaff, I dash in front of an 18 wheeler who has "..rump" and "usa" etched into the dirt on the back of the truck. I expect him to react in some way, but he doesn't. He follows me for several miles out of town and onto I40w for a minute and then continuing on I17 south toward Phoenix. When he finally passes me - I go slower than all the traffic - he doesn't even glance in my direction.
I hope I've influenced him - or maybe he doesn't even know that someone has climbed up on the back of his truck and graffiti'd it.
I drive through cattle ranges and past little tiny towns - still not one rump sign. One white man in a huge dually red pick up truck has extended his middle finger and arm way above the cab as he passes me and keeps it up there a good 1/2 mile until I can't see his arm any more.
Another white man, in another red vehicle but this one a small sports car convertible with the top down - it has gotten much warmed as I've come down a few thousand feet - with short blond hair oozing wealth takes both hands off the wheel to make the universal "up yours" sign, holding his elbow and jabbing into the air so long I'm worried he's gonna crash into the barrier.
But that's it for the overt rump supporters!
Again, I cannot express how beautiful the land is coming down from 8000 feet up at Grand Canyon, 6900 feet up at Flagstaff, and now I'm about 4000 feet up and at the "Freedom is not free" rest stop! Yes, there's actually a plaque stating this and dedicating the rest stop and the entire I17 highway to veterans of our wars against other human beings.
This of course, gives me pause, considering if I stay here or go on to the next rest stop. I'm tired, although I shouldn't really be, and hungry. There's no guarantee the next stop will be different so I decide to take my chances. I pull all the way to the last stop where there is no light this time and far away from the truckers.
I heat up the soup I made this morning and have another feast as the sun goes down and the black sky fills with the brightest stars and the tiny sliver of a moon.
I hope I've influenced him - or maybe he doesn't even know that someone has climbed up on the back of his truck and graffiti'd it.
I drive through cattle ranges and past little tiny towns - still not one rump sign. One white man in a huge dually red pick up truck has extended his middle finger and arm way above the cab as he passes me and keeps it up there a good 1/2 mile until I can't see his arm any more.
Another white man, in another red vehicle but this one a small sports car convertible with the top down - it has gotten much warmed as I've come down a few thousand feet - with short blond hair oozing wealth takes both hands off the wheel to make the universal "up yours" sign, holding his elbow and jabbing into the air so long I'm worried he's gonna crash into the barrier.
But that's it for the overt rump supporters!
Again, I cannot express how beautiful the land is coming down from 8000 feet up at Grand Canyon, 6900 feet up at Flagstaff, and now I'm about 4000 feet up and at the "Freedom is not free" rest stop! Yes, there's actually a plaque stating this and dedicating the rest stop and the entire I17 highway to veterans of our wars against other human beings.
This of course, gives me pause, considering if I stay here or go on to the next rest stop. I'm tired, although I shouldn't really be, and hungry. There's no guarantee the next stop will be different so I decide to take my chances. I pull all the way to the last stop where there is no light this time and far away from the truckers.
I heat up the soup I made this morning and have another feast as the sun goes down and the black sky fills with the brightest stars and the tiny sliver of a moon.
posted by Xan @ 9:43 PM
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