Trail of Dead Deer

 

by Pa Rock

Traveling Fool

Rosie and I are back in Roeland Park, Kansas, after an absence of almost three-and-a-half months (March 1st).   We used to make it up this way every six weeks or so, but advancing age and the attendant decrepitude have worn us down.    As we grow older, the road between south-central Missouri, and northeast Kansas grows longer and more difficult to traverse.   I blame Trump.

When we do make these increasingly rare road trips, I always look for oddities along the way - things to blog about.  Yesterday's item of interest turned out to be dead deer,  From north of Springfield, Missouri, to Harrisonville, Missouri, in the Kansas City area, the deer carcasses on the roadway were so numerous that I lost count.  It was almost like driving through the remnants of a wildlife suicide pact.  

The other item of interest to this worn out road warrior was Truman Lake just south of Clinton, Missouri.  State Highway 13 crosses two long stretches of Truman Lake, which, in its normal state is not that deep, at least close to the shore.   There are trees growing in the water, somewhat like a southern bayou.  This trip, however, after the recent rans, the lake had far more water in it than usual - almost resembling the Lake of the Ozarks - or Lake Norfolk in northern Arkansas.  And it was still raining yesterday through much of my trip - which did not make the travel any easier.

The big mishap of the trip - so far - is that I left my computer at home and didn't realize it until about the time I was arriving in Kansas City.   It turned out not to be the crisis situation I expected because Tim was quickly able to connect me to most of my accounts on his computer, even though I had no idea what my passwords were.  Password recovery is so simple that it begs the question of why we must be hobbled with passwords at all.

Once we arrived in the KC area, a highlight of the trip was a visit with an old college friend from the 1960's who came by my son's house,  My friend, who is just my junior by two years, has, like me, gone through multiple careers, but instead of just choosing to retire and just sit in a corner and vegetate, he is enrolled in a multi-year divinity program which this time next year will have resulted in his being qualified to be a professional deacon in his church.  I am in awe of Mike's drive and his energy.

Speaking of rain, it is clouding up and the wind is beginning to blow.  That doesn't bode well for our planned trip to Costco later today.  I am also expecting a visit from a grown grandchild who lives in this area later today.  Visiting with three of six grandchildren on a two-day trip is certainly making good use of my time!  

Headed back to the Ozarks tomorrow.