Moving memories
When Mrs. Happy and I moved from Austin, Texas to New York, we had movers put all our stuff in a van and move it for us. Then we packed clothes and toiletries and took a three-day (8 hours a day) road trip. We carried with us a small tape recorder. Throughout our journey, we periodically pressed the record button and talked to each other and to an imaginary audience. Mrs. Happy found the tape the other day while cleaning. When we listen to it now, it seems like a lifetime ago that we made that tape. There's one part where my wife extols the virtues of McDonald's french fries, and today she can't stand anything that comes out of McDonald's. There's another part where we argue about whether I should throw away a weathered but comfortable T-shirt. I haven't thought about that shirt since the move. Throughout the entire recording, our subtle Texas drawl makes itself known. That drawl has all but disappeared from both of our tongues.
Here's a short excerpt.
Me: It is now August 19, 2000. We just…well…last night we spent the night with Dad in Texas. We are on our way to Nashville. That's our ultimate destination today. We just left Texarkana and…Texas.
Mrs. Happy: Woohoo!
Me: So now we're in Arkansas. I just saw a sign that said Hope, Arkansas is 30 miles away, and that's one of the Arkansas towns that claims to be the home of our current president, Bill Clinton. I don't know why anybody would want to claim that, personally, but they do. So here we are. I missed the sign that said "Welcome to Arkansas" because I was looking at a toy store on the side of the road. Can you repeat what you said?
MH: Uh, Arkansas? We're in Arkansas! "Welcome to Arkansas," Curt! We missed it. We didn't record it.
Me: Yeah, we were going to record ourselves going from Texas into Arkansas, and it just kind of snuck up on us. So…this is after the fact, but it was quite an experience. We're in a completely different country now.* So anyway…
MH: I'm driving, by the way.
Me: Yeah. I got tired, so she's driving. I guess we'll sign on again a little later.
…
MH: Arkansas's pretty. I like it.
Me: Lots of trees. Very flat, but lots of trees.
MH: Yeah.
Me: And trees are…pretty. Prettier than a poem. Or, I should say, lovelier than a poem.
…
Me: We're about to get to Hope, Arkansas. I was, uh…I was planning on giving a description of it. So far it's just a billboard saying, "Hope ahead." There's some other little signs alerting us to fast food places and gas stations. There's a Catfish King in Hope, apparently. Catfish King, Western Sizzlin', Holiday Inn, Best Western…. It looks to be a bustling commercial center here in Arkansas.
MH: The trees are really tall and pretty.
Me: We keep passing moving trucks and thanking the Lord we're not driving one of them.
MH: (laughter)
Me: Okay, Hope is one mile away. We're driving 80 miles an hour, so we should be there in less than a minute.
MH: (laughter)
Me: I keep seeing all these promises of food, lodging, and fuel stations. I'm thinking it's going to be huge, but so far it's still just trees. Oh, there's a gas station and an Economy Inn.
MH: I don't think we're gonna pass through Hope, actually. I think we're just on the highway and Hope is an exit.
Me: Oh, there's something. What is that?
MH: I don't know.
Me: Something with a playground. It looks like a prison.
MH: A prison with a playground? I think it might be a school, but I'm not sure.
Me: Well, the buildings had green roofs. I've never seen a prison with green roofs on it.……Well, that was Hope. We're done.
MH: Little Rock is 108 miles away.
Me: That's our next hub, our next milestone. Little Rock is one of the other towns that claims Clinton as its own.
MH: Isn't there a song about Little Rock?
Me: (long pause) You're thinking of Kansas City.
MH: No. Never mind. I'm sure there is, I just can't think of it right now.
Me: I'm sure there are hundreds of songs about Little Rock.
MH: But there's a big one that I know we've heard.
Me: (long pause) Well, we're back to trees. I never saw all those things promised by the billboards.
MH: They were false hope, I guess. Campaign promises.
It goes on like that. Maybe the trip it isn't so interesting to people who didn't live it, but it's one of the best memories of my life.
*Texas and Arkansas are not, strictly speaking, different countries. Both are sovereign states that are part of the United States of America. Referring to them as different countries is sort of a figure of speech, but sort of not. Spend some time in each of them and you'll understand.
