Pissing in the Snow

 

by Pa Rock

Traveling Fool

(Note:  The title of this piece, 'Pissing in the Snow," was shamelessly taken from a collection of Ozark humor with the same title that was published by the late Ozark folklorist, Vance Randolph, many years ago.   It is highly recommended by this tired old typist, if you can find a copy.)

Rosie and I are in Roeland Park, Kansas (a suburb of Kansas City), after nearly five hours on the road.  We are here to see my granddaughter, Olive, sing in a play tomorrow night.  Our drive north today from West Plains, was long (279 miles) and unusually difficult.    The first one hundred miles were calm and relaxing, except that I chose to listen to my favorite political podcast, "Pod Save America," the entire way - and those young men, all in their thirties and forties and veterans of the Obama administration, are always wired - and fun and informative to listen to.  So by the time we hit Springfield I was  getting fired-up about the upcoming presidential election.

But there was a sudden change of weather in Springfield right at the start of mile one-oh-one, when a hard rain began.  Then by the time I pulled on to Interstate 40 for a three-mile jaunt over to the next highway north, the skies opened and we found ourselves trying to navigate one of the busiest truck routes in America with very limited visibility.  We stopped thirty more miles up the road in Bolivar, the home of Missouri's current useless governor, for bathroom breaks, and Rosie reluctantly did her business in a heavy mist.  But, sixty  miles on in the big town of Clinton, Missouri, we had to go again, and that time Rosie had to walk and squat in a steady snowfall with snow already accumulating on the ground.  (Hence the title of this blog posting.)  Rosie was not amused.  

Pa Rock, an elitist, was able to go inside of the convenience store and use their facilities to relieve himself.  While I was in the store, I did purchase a hotdog which I shared with Rosie as we travelled on toward Kansas City, and she was mollified a bit.

The play that Olive is in is called Tuck Everlasting, and it is based on an award-winning adolescent novel that I read many years ago in a literature class.  I enjoyed the book and am anxious to see the play.  I always love performances which feature any of my grandchildren!

Breakfast tomorrow with old friend, xobekim, at a new place in town called The Big Biscuit.  Looking forward to it!

Home Sunday.