Me and Tom are off to cornwall for a week, train is in an hour, sorry that this is such a rushed email but the following is mums latest…. xxxx
Oh Dear ! no phone signal, no internet, just hot amazing New Mexico vista!
Back to Texas though, Arrived in the Texas Panhandle which is where Curly (from City Slickers ) fell in love for the 1st and only time to a redhead in the fields. We parked up at a small roadside alongside the interstate I40 which accompanies us through many States.
Dom took the broom and spent 50 minutes sweeping the drain ( a bit like a quarter pipe) between us and the I40. The looks he got from the drivers were a sight to see! He and Kev then proceeded to skateboard down the drain at increasingly high speeds until Dom’s concentration lapsed for a moment and he took a ( his 2nd ) nasty tumble with blood and grazes on shoulder, hand,knee, and ankle! He was brave and eventually agreed that pads may be a good idea for the next time. We settled for the night and were woken at 1a.m. by a retired policeman smiling broadly saying that it was perfectly ok to park there but people may keep waking us in the night ( yeh! Well he did ) He carried on repeating all this and smiling sweetly but you very much got the feeling that it wouldn’t have ended happily if we had stayed. He then sat in his car for 20 mins shining his headlights on us so we tootled off.
Next day was to be the 1st of the 100 degrees+ and we were going through ‘Groom’ in the early afternoon. It boasts the largest Cross in the Western Hemisphere . More than this though it has in a circle around it’s base the 14 Stations of the Cross . Though quite graphic they were extremely moving and reminded me of people suffering in many ways so badly that surely I could stop feeling sorry for myself and do a few hours walking in the heat of the day . It helped me decide to make the heat my friend and so now 80+ is fine 90+ is ok too .100 + is hot but manageable with my keep cool kit which I’ll tell you about sometime. ( Mind you wait till we get to 118+ degrees in Arizona and I’ll be whimpering like a baby.. )
Oh Yes! Saw my 1st live snake in the dawnlight which alarmed me though I didn’t tread on it and backed off as it idled its way across the road not paying any attention to me thank goodness,and had my trusty snake stick with me as we were warned there a lot of rattlesnakes in Texas. They go on the road at night to cool down and head off in the early morning near dawn.
Saw the largest wind farm ever and heard on the radio that some geezer is suggesting spending $4 billion on wind farms in Texas . I happen to love them..Unfortunately this one was next to the biggest cow poo smell of all time on a texas farm..We parked a way away ( upwind ) and went to sleep with the windmills all flashing on and off like a giant Christmas tree decoration.
New Mexico started badly with the windiest afternoon walking directly against gusting 55 mph winds so I was taking 3 steps forward and 2 steps back .It was disappointing as I was looking forward to this bit.
Then this morning I set off to Tucumcari at 4 am ( in a different time zone now! )and saw the most beautiful sunrise over the grey green grasses, dark green bushes and red stone and brown formations , fab! I then saw yet another flock of about 300 swallows (?) flying around the place with their nests in the underpass of the Interstate looking like hundreds of ancient Egyptian vases stuck on at different angles…amazing. I think I’m spending too much time on my own ‘cos I must be hallucinating. Every time I see a sign saying ‘don’t pass’ ( overtake) All I can picture is the Black Knight saying ‘’ NONE SHALL PASS’’ . Him of ‘’It’s only a flesh wound’’ and ‘’Come back here ……. And I’ll bite your legs off’’ . If it’s not that, I keep imagining Steve McQueen + the other 6 riding up over the hills to save a damsel ( ol’ bag ) in not too much distress.
It came to me that I was thinking again ( and again ) about why I do very long distance stuff and at least part of it is to work out if I would be brave in a war because of course I’ve never been tested in my lifetime .After many years of never knowing the answer it suddenly became clear to me this morning that NO I wouldn’t be brave ‘cos I need lots of encouragement , kind words and hugs to survive. (I’ve had them constantly and frequently from the family and such patience from Kev and Dom and it’s helped so much) .I would do anything to protect my family and hopefully do the job I’m meant to do but not without some tears and wimpishness.. Within a few minutes of coming to this conclusion the radio told me what the date is today and it is June 6th D-Day 64th anniversary and It has for many years fascinated me about the facts and the characters and the motivations. I know that if my husband, Hugh chose to do this event he would not wimp or whine but stoically just get on with it . You would want him on your side in a war..he’s very brave.
Anyway the wind is back so let’s see what tomorrow brings
xxxxxxxxxxxx
Kate Condon
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