Yesterday and today were like night and day for Darby and Shelby. Yesterday it was peas and carrots in that they were getting along well, watching movies together, singing songs, you know, being sisters. Today, they argued, didn't watch movies together, or even play together very much. They used their pillows and blankets to erect "forts", walls of isolation, and they effectively spent hours apart. Also like sisters I suppose.
I don't like this part of the journey, nearly all of which is spent in New Mexico. Nothing against the state or anything. it's just such a big part of the OK to AZ journey, you get sick of being in it so long. Texas comes and goes so quickly (ironically, being the larger state), and when you finally get to AZ, it's not long before you hit Tucson.
About an hour outside Tucson, while traveling at 79 MPH, I saw something on the road ahead. I couldn't tell what it was at first, it was so small. But then I noticed a head move. It was a bird. And it WASN'T moving. I was in the process of passing a car, which at this point was right next to me. I couldn't tell if the bird was hurt or stupid or what, but I remember thinking that if it would just stay put, that I would straddle it, and we'd both go about our days. But no. It decided last moment that it would try to reach the sky before I could traverse the less than hundred feet from when I noticed it. And so that bird is now demised. I had no reaction time. It lifted-off, and poof. Splatter on the nose of my car and windshield is all that remains. Not even enough remains to distinguish the bird from the bugs. There was a significant thump upon impact, which got the girls' attention. They were expectedly grossed out when I told them what had happened. And the smell when we got to Tucson, in the hundred degree heat on my black car... those remains got quite putrid. Is it ironic that I have created death on my way out to memorialize a death? I'm not sure, but now I feel like George Castanza. I mean, don't we have a deal with the birds? They're supposed to MOVE, right?
So I was faced with a strange scenario I had never noticed before. I needed a car wash, and there weren't any. I can't believe all these years I've been coming here, and there are no car washes, or at least not enough to be noticed. In OKC, it seems like there's one on every block. But I suppose that being in the desert, and having water shortages, that running a car wash is probably not very cost effective, and so there are few to be found. I had to leave the Tucson city limits to find one so that I could rid my vehicle of that dead animal scent. Maybe there was a car wash somewhere in town, but I couldn't find it.
The hotel we'll be in for a few days is nicer than expected. I mean, not like the Ritz or something, but more than what I figured I'd have to pay for what we got. It's two rooms (two TVs even, which the girls like), a small kitchen area, a substantial cable TV selection (unlike the typical dozen or so hotel cable channels), and we're 20 feet from both the breakfast area and the pool. Which I THINK is good. I went to the car earlier and there were A LOT of people in the lounge area just outside our door. That seemed bad, but when I thought about it, I didn't hear any of those people from inside the room, so I guess not so bad. We're near the foothills of the Catalina Mountains, so it would just be a short drive up to the trails from here, and we have good access to the rest of Tucson.
As I was unpacking I realized I made a non-trivial planning error. I had forgotten that the funeral mass and burial ceremony are on two separate days, and I only brought one non-play-clothes type outfit for each girl, and I didn't figure it'd make sense to have them wear the same thing on both days, so... we went to the mall not long after checking in, to get another decent outfit for each kid. Of course, AFTER the fact, I realized the shoes I brought with us didn't AT ALL match the outfits I got them today. So, we'll be going to a shoe store in the morning I guess, and thus heading back to OK with more shoes than we brought with us (ugh). I am such a guy about this kind of stuff. I don't think far enough ahead about outfits and shoes for the girls. Or for myself for that matter. I had to pick up another dress shirt, figuring it's probably not terrible to go just shirt and tie for mass, and then full suit (with different shirt) for the burial (why am I caring about this? oh yeah, there are more women than men in the family and I don't want to hear about it...). I'm sure this could have all gone much more efficiently with proper planning.
So we've already seen some cousins in the few hours we've been in town. My dad and sister fly in tomorrow. It will be the first time my dad will have all of his children in one place in eight years. I'm sure he's all giddy about it. It will also be the first time he'll get to meet my sister's boyfriend (and probably future husband) of seven years. So, tomorrow will be a full spectrum flip-flop of emotion as family reunites, only to be reminded soon after that we're here to commemorate the passing of one of our own.
One last sad note, just as the day was almost out, I found grandma's obituary online. Here it is locally for posterity.
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