Travel Companions That Don’t Shed

     “When I was very young and the urge to be someplace else was on me, I was assured by mature people that maturity would cure this itch…. I fear this disease is incurable.”

   That is the opening line of John Steinbeck’s novel “Travels with Charley” and in short, it sums in brief prose my very experiences of life.

   The novel is a light-hearted review of a road trip Steinbeck took late in his life with his dog Charley.  They cris-cross the country “in search of America” and in so doing, encounter an intriguing collection of human beings and situations that make the back roads of this country so, well, intriguing.

   Steinbeck soon learned that having his dog Charley with him opened many conversations, set strangers at ease and overall led to greater adventures. Not only was he a good companion, he served a purpose and made the journey so much more pleasurable in many ways.

   However, I’m a cat person and little Miss Snowbelle, who becomes perturbed during the three block ride to the veterinarian’s office, would never tolerate the discomforts and inconveniences of three month a cross-country road trip..

   Thank goodness I have my friend Edna.  She lives around the corner and would hop in the car with me at a moment’s notice, so ready is she to explore the world – or just escape her husband, kids and dogs that live in their house.

   Our schedules are such that we usually have our Christmas lunches in February, so getting together for a road trip is about as likely as the price of gasoline dropping to less than the gross national product of a small nation.

   However, the moon and stars aligned very briefly on a sunny spring day a few weeks back, and Edna and I took off down I-70.  Blackwater, Missouri was the destination, a fun little dot in the road about half-way between Kansas City and Columbia.  The resulting story is in the summer issue of Show-Me Missouri Magazine.

   This isn’t the first time Edna and I have explored the back roads of Missouri together, and each time, she has been a pleasant traveling companion who made my work easier.  Just like Steinbeck’s Charley, Edna opens many conversations, sets strangers at ease and contributes to a great adventure.  

    And now that I’ve compared her to a poodle named Charley for all of cyberspace to enjoy for eternity, we’ll see how long it will be, if ever, before I write the next installment of “Travels with Edna.”

Luv ya girlfriend!