Trucks Passing in the Day

Move To NYC, Day Two

As fate would have it, when we called Mr. B– today to see how they were faring on their cross-country trip west, we were only about 30 miles heading toward each other. We stopped at the Flying J truck stop, just east of Rapid City Wyoming to meet up. I had met the entire family in NYC, but this gave Rob a chance to meet Mrs. B– and the kids. Mrs. B– is delightful and I wish I had more time to talk with her, but we all had schedules to keep. Rob trotted out a little of his Japanese to greet her—I think she wasn’t expecting to hear Japanese and had a moment before she realized that he wasn’t speaking English. Then she smiled and answered him.

Young Master B– and Miss B– seemed to be adapting well to their week of driving and were finding amusement playing with the gravel in the asphalt parking lot between our trucks.

We’re moving now into territory that is unfamiliar to me. Up to now, we’ve been driving the roads that I drove when I was touring for Tears of Joy. Every exit yesterday provoked memories of elementary schools and the shows I performed there. Jerome, Idaho’s school has a stage carpeted in green shag, to match the walls of the auditorium. If you use wireless microphones you pick up a radio station over your sound system. When I was there, it was as if Rush Limbaugh was using our equipment to broadcast his show.

I started running lines–as we used to do to warm up after a break—just to see how much I remember. A surprising amount is still there. These were the opening lines to four shows; I performed in more, but my partners had the opening lines in the others.

The operetta of Pied Piper:
[Blackout and Scream] Singing: “Oh drat, a rat, running across the floor!”

Baba Yaga:
Singing: “My mama said Marusia, here is a kopek,
Go to the village and buy us some turnips. Hurry home and don’t forget the change.”

Rabbits, Carrots, and Whales (Brer Rabbit Tales)
“Well hello there! Do you know why I’m so happy? I just found a whoooooole patch of carrots, right next to Pembele’s house and I just loooooove carrots.”

Tales of Japan
“Long ago in Japan, there lived a man named Myoga and his wife Onagi.”

Ah me…I think the reason I was looking forward to the road trip portion of this move is because it reminds me of touring. I miss the simplicity of life on tour. You arrive, set up, do the show and leave. There is a magic to transforming a gym into a theater; such simple path to Wonder.

I also liked seeing how the country changes. We think about America as if it is a homogenous place, but a road trip quickly reminds one that the United States was made from a federation of independent states. I wonder if the European Union will have a similar growth process over the next 200 years.

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