Through the Heartland

July 31  Headed to Indiana after leaving Athens and friends behind. We nearly stopped at Big Muskie Bucket on the way there, but we were too close and it was to much out of the way.  Big Muskie Bucket was used with drag lines and the entire OSU (that's Ohio, people, not Oklahoma) marching band could fit in it.  We noticed in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and southwestern Ohio there was a propensity of adult stores. Like, superstores. Don't miss this exit!  It was kinda wild. One had a billboard at the property line condemning pornography and those that engage in such nefarious activity "in the name of Jesus Christ."

Athens was lovely. A table of ten folks, some I knew well, some I knew a bit and a few I just met greeted me at Casa Nueva. It is an excellent worker owned Mexican type restaurant I ate many meals nearly thirty years ago.

We spent most of out time with our dear friend Tom out at his "shack" eleven miles out of town. He owns 16 wooded acres that he taps for maple syrup. It was Reese's favorite place to be, where he could admire the tractor, catch fireflies and play with the camp fire.  We walked around town and campus, memories popping up like crocuses in the spring. I didn't know I wanted to revisit my first dorm and the walk up the bridge to town but Rich suggested we walk around campus and I was grateful he did. The kids weren't too happy about it all so to make life more manageable we grabbed Carol, Tom's wife and headed back out to the country.

Tom and Carol were awesome with the kids, as only childless people can be.  Tom showed them fossils he had collected although Reese was more fascinated with the arrowhead collection Tom couldn't find. Carol held Ruby and played with both of them. The kids weren't feeling Athens. All adults, all the time. Like I said, Tom's place saved our sanity.

The town hadn't changed all that much. I was struck by what was still there twenty-five years later. That isn't to say the town hadn't grown or downtown businesses hadn't changed. It has, but much was still the same. The weather wasn't nearly as bad as I remembered either. I remember taking three cold showers in one day because it was so hot and humid. It was pleasant, and minimal bugs!  We got to watch a thunderstorm come in turning the skies purpley gray. The thickly treed hills seemed to roll forever, obscuring cell signal making us feel more isolated than we were.    Driving through the hills reminded me of our Saturday morning bike rides, pre-mountain biking. Twenty to forty mile rides with two to eight of us rolling around the hills, fighting off dogs on lonely roads. Lovely memories, lovely visit.