On my way to get a hamburger, Bluebell was in the passenger seat sitting up watching the pastures go by. All at once I was taken back to a time when she and I would drive around the country with nothing to do but sightsee because I was between houses and more or less living on the road. In that moment, I caught a wisp of the sense of freedom I had upon finding myself not belonging to any particular place. Well gosh darn it if I didn’t have a small nostalgia for a time in my life that I thought was good for nothing except selective amnesia; A time when it was just me and my dog driving around aimlessly to pass the days and fend off boredom. It made me smile to remember that freedom is also a state of mind. I’ll admit we had some good times during those few months - The Wichita Mountains in Oklahoma, for example.
By the way, I got tricked into an act of kindness at the Whataburger. Since it was too hot for Bluebell to wait in the car alone, I had to use the drive-thru, and the line of cars was backed up considerably. Well, I drove thirty minutes to get here, so I’m doing it.
When I was about half way to the order screen, a car drove up perpendicular to where I was in line. At the moment, there were too many people at Whataburger, and the parking lot was chaos, and in my innocence I assumed she just wanted to pass through and exit out the back way. So when the line moved again, I let her cross, and dang if she didn’t cut right in front of me and get in line. I thought well that’s not going to sit well with the six cars behind me. And honestly, it didn’t sit well with me either. But there was nothing to do about it short of making a scene, which isn’t in me. My consolation was that she and her friend waved so enthusiastically at me and surely thought that I was sooo niiiice.
And also by the way, here is a list of birds I saw while in the drive thru: Great-tailed grackle, European starling, Mourning dove, American crow, Scissor-tailed flycatcher. I also thought I saw a road runner, but I think I was just dehydrated. Note to self: Do not go to Whataburger at 2pm on Sunday in the middle of July.
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