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“If stories come to you, care for them. And learn to give them away where they are needed. Sometimes a person needs a story more than food to stay alive.”
—Barry Lopez
(as Badger, in Crow and Weasel)

 

To be nobody but yourself -- in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you like everybody else -- means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight, and never stop fighting.
- e. e. cummings

 

Nanny, Nanny, Boo-Boo

----- Motorists can offer many insights into life. Perhaps our roadways could be considered somewhat of a microcosm of life itself. Vehicles of all shapes, sizes, and colors traveling to a multitude of destinations, controlled by an even wider variety of personalities. I suppose one of the most imposing figures ever to grace our roads is the tractor-trailer truck, commonly known as the eighteen-wheeler. Piloted by a fraternity of proud professionals, these giants of the highway cross milestone after milestone as a matter of routine, ever mindful of their obvious advantage over that American icon -- the Sunday driver.
-------I'll never forget an event I witnessed years ago in which these two diverse slices of life engaged in a brief encounter. Like a whale, once strong and proud in his ocean domain, now finding himself helpless on the beach, this eighteen-wheeler found himself grounded on a small city side street near a busy intersection. He had maneuvered his rig in and out of the intersection with diligence. The frustration was evident on his round face as he neared the completion of his seemingly endless mission, turning toward the small road. Just as he made the final turn of the massive wheel and began to move forward, a woman in a small car, oblivious to all the world around her, darted up to the stop sign and took up what she obviously considered her half of the street. I could see the truck driver's blood begin to boil as his eyes became large and full of fire. I was almost afraid to watch what would happen next as this muscle bound man in his massive machine reached the flash point. I squinted my eyes and ducked as the moment arrived, then watched in disbelief as this powerful man got his revenged ... He stuck out his tongue!

© 2004 - The Trill House