Marathon

Lake Dardanelle, AR

Yesterday, determined to get within shouting distance of Atlanta, I forged through Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi and into Alabama, where I landed in a posh part of Birmingham (yup!). The South is so beautiful. Endless miles of forests on both sides of the road. Glimpses of peaceful creeks as you go over a bridge. HUGE (by Californian standards) lakes. Makes your heart thump, it does. But the denizens of the rest stops are Faulknerian, the small towns dismal. What this place needs is a bit of gentrification. And good internet.

I think my hotel of the night before last had serious electrical issues. I got zapped out of my room TWICE, and my laptop would not charge in any outlet. Anyway, it’s fine this AM.

Me, on the other hand, I’m stiff from a long two days of driving, and ready to arrive Somewhere. I want to visit the Civil Rights Institute before I get on to Atlanta, only three hours today (yay!!). Doing a little reading last night, I learned there was a bit of rivalry between Birmingham and Atlanta, and then ATL pulled out in front mightily, in population and status. Birmingham is a smaller, and therefore more liveable city. Hard to imagine a place, though, where you’d have to choose between Luther Strange (who is corrupt to his eyeballs) and 10-commandments-up-your-bum Roy Moore for Senate. I would prefer Georgia, which at least has the possibility of flipping.

Finished Knaussgard! (Well, there are three more volumes to go, but..) It was a book length recollection of several years of his childhood and he absolutely made it *live* in your mind. It was not happy. He was glad to leave all those people and the place. Something light now, for a chaser and then maybe on to volume 4.

When I think of the ex, it’s just ache and I have nothing to say at all. Neither does he, apparently. After these decades, I find that astonishing. I think after the Eclipse excursion, I need to talk to Deborah (my Palm Desert therapist) on the phone.

ar to al