Fargo

07/07 eleven years since Joe died. My writing last night, instead of a blog post, was a long email to his niece, Stephanie, whose husband died recently, far too young, leaving her with their four year old son. All during Yony’s long illness Stephanie displayed remarkable courage, strength, and balance.  And she has carried those traits into the huge challenges of widowhood and being a single, working mom. She had written a post on Facebook that brought back the early days of widowhood so vividly for me that I had to write and share some of what I’d learned. Joe and Stephanie had developed a lovely friendship over email during her first couple of years in college, and her son is Joey, in memory of her uncle. Her brother, Joe’s nephew Rob, also has a Joe.  And Liz has Rowan Joseph. It’s a fine legacy, or rather, it’s part of a huge fine legacy.

The day yesterday started smoothly in Sandusky. The second day of a trip is very different from the first which starts with leaving home.  On the second day, it’s campground to campground, and we are used to the rhythm of a day on the road. There are no choices about what to pack, it’s just packing what we’ve brought. Ohio and Indiana slipped by pleasantly, but not very memorably. Illinois was a bit of a challenge.  The traffic around Chicago was pretty thick and intense, even early in the afternoon.  Google maps makes navigating pretty easy, but changing lanes in heavy traffic with a trailer is stressful for all of us, including Charlie who is so sensitive to our stress levels. Illinois is also distinguished by having toll booths about every 10 miles, making for a lot of stop and go traffic and merging and lane changes.  We were glad to cross the border into Wisconsin, back into open country and with a civilized toll system.

We had a reservation at a KOA just outside of Madison, WI. We pulled in around 5:00 – a pleasant looking campground.  I went in and registered, but when the attendant in the golf cart led us to our spot, it was occupied by a big RV.  Turns out that the folks there were supposed to have checked out that morning, but hadn’t. They were away, and not reachable by phone, and the campground was full. So the manager offered to put us up in one of the three “cabins” in the park, a huge RV with bump outs in the living room and bedroom, and a full bathroom. It was pretty luxurious, but it seemed sort of excessive after the deeply satisfying minimalism of our little Casita.

We were on the road at 6:30 this morning, heading north through the beautiful Wisconsin countryside. Crossing into Minnesota, the land of 10,000 lakes, Jay spotted the first lake immediately and announced 9,999 to go.  Happily, he gave up counting right away, as the lakes came so quickly we could hardly have kept up. I’ll have to read up on the geology to understand how that happened to Minnesota.  It’s really quite stunning.

Tonight we are in Fargo, visiting with Nancy’s sister Sarah and her husband Jim. They have a lovely place on a pleasant, tree lined street.  Shade is welcome in the 90 degree heat, and so is air conditioning. When it cooled off a tiny bit in the evening, Jay played ball with Charlie in the yard. Charlie gets me out for walks at least a couple of times a day, but it’s not always easy to get him playtime on the road.  The KOA had a nice fenced play yard for dogs, and we got in a little playtime there, but in many places we have to keep him leashed.  He’s a good little traveler, settling into the routine of the road and rest stops. I wonder if it is confusing for him to be in new places every day.  He wasn’t in on the planning of this trip, has no idea where we’re going or how long we’re away from home, or if we’re ever going back. Charlie lives, or seems to live, in the present, a present full of interesting things to sniff and places to pee.  He never asks, are we there yet, because we always are.