Two days before we leave

I've talked to numerous Stillwaterites while looking for a hotel and hear that the rain has cooled down the town. Stillwater sounds like a sweet place, population 40,000 with trails and friendly people. Someone has written comments that go that she invited a big city friend to Stillwater. When they walked downtown, a man passed them, tipped his hat, and said "Howdy m'am". The visiting friend asked if her Stillwater friend had paid the guy to do that. Being from a formerly small town in southern Oregon, I know that those things still happen, and that those manners are so wonderful that they will break your heart.

I have decided against taking the book I'm writing on the trip. I will take a vacation from the writing and concentrate on my first trip to Texas and Oklahoma and Kathy. We will be seeing what Marc saw and that's what we should concentrate on.

Oh, and about my book, I have around 50,000 words, with 66,000 being the average size of a novel. It's not the number, it's the quality that counts, of course. I definitely have the story and the voice, which tells the story first person and in a soundalike third person. This is the story of a thirteen year old girl whose mother suddenly takes she and her younger brother to live in a housing project. It is a story of sudden poverty. Starring in the book are Davey, a younger brother who always makes the best of things, Laura, the mother who develops a brain tumor, Rebecca, a thirteen year old girl who watches and listens and also witnesses something terrible, and Dorothea, the 45 year old next door neighbor who has her own story. There are observations about the housing project, to suit any sociologists on board, and observations about families, to suit any psychologists on board ("Mother is everywhere").

One of the great mysteries of the past few days is why there are so few rooms available in Stillwater. Their graduations have come and gone. Stillwaterites themselves do not know why the hotels are all booked. I contend that a movie is about to be filmed there and the location has been kept secret so that the paparazzi do not descend. Kathy and Rosemary and I are making a documentary on Marc, which I think will morph into a documentary about red dirt country music vs Nashville country music. Marc loved red dirt country music.

The Austin leg of the trip should be a blast. We're hearing that there are streets filled with venues where country music is played constantly. That must be what Marc loved about Austin. Kathy will love that. So far, we're not getting cowboy boots but I'm willing to place money on this: One of us will get them, and it won't be me.

Almost ready

I suppose it is time for me to post again. We are almost ready to go. Just a few minor details...lilke what to wear...seat assignments for our flight to Austin...stuff like that. We've had a heck of a time getting a hotel reservation in Stillwater, OK. The reservation people at the 200 hotels we've tried don't seem to know what's going on in Stillwater...just that they are booked. I think Peggy finally snagged the last room at a Best Western in Stillwater last night, so perhaps it will all work out.

And yes, they'll be hearing that sunshine song...A LOT!

Kathy

First, the wardrobe

We are making airline reservations, which isn't the way you do a road trip, but decided to fly a long portion of the way. We're flying to Austin and then driving to Oklahoma when the visit to Austin is done. I'm looking forward to the flight, to meeting Richard and Amber and seeing Arleen, and seeing Austin, a city everyone seems to like.

Kathy and I visited Orvis, a store that sells outdoor clothes, today. I want to be as comfortable as possible, so was looking for just the right set of clothes. I'm not a tank top and shorts kind of gal. at least not any longer. In Kuaui, I spotted a couple of women staying cool while looking cool in safari clothes, which were in contrast to my wild print blouse and horrid crop pants, especially since on that particular day I had elected to add white anklets to the black sandals. I'm afraid there's a picture of this out there somewhere and I'd pay to get it back.

At Orvis, I found safari cargo pants of a light weight and a white bug-proof blouse with flaps and flips and vents, zippers and buttons, an entire luggage set folded into one blouse. Kathy insisted I get a white t-shirt. If I can scrounge up enough hotwear in the deep recesses of my closet, I may be able to leave the Hawaii-wear home and give the Oklahomans a break (and never be blackmailed again by a picture of me as Public Dork #1).

Now if we can just get Kathy to sing that sunbeam song.

Yoga in Tulsa

I'm lining up our yoga in Tulsa. Inner Peace Yoga just responded; they'd be glad to have us. Visit their website at InnerPeaceYogaTulsa. That studio offers "soft yoga" and at least one therapeutic class. They have a handy list of hints that will tell you if you're heading toward inner peace. I could be there in a few thousand years.

There are a lot of ways to say it, but I've been thinking that being less opinionated releases a big burden. I may have to do that as we struggle along in the presidential race.

I'm looking for yoga in Austin, too. One of my teachers is from Houston, but I'll bet she can line us up with yoga in Austin. Stay tuned.

Namaste, as they say.

But what will I wear?

It's already hot in Tulsa. We'll be there in one month. Here's the question that is always uppermost in my mind: But what will I wear? The JK Jill catalogue came yesterday and I enjoyed flipping through it this morning but I still can't see myself in crop pants. They've been in style for years now. As a kid, I wore pedal pushers, and that's what crop pants are. But the length stops at an unfortunate part of the leg and only those who have knees they hate could love a crop pant. Buy shorts. Get real: The knee is just a major joint, so how gorgeous can it be?
Take care of your knees, by the way.

I like the JK Jill line because their shoes don't have heels. Not even kitten heels. The models wear no-to-low heel sandals and in the winter wear low heel shoes. Somebody's thinking. High heels may extend your leg line, but you put yourself into a yoga class after a few decades of high heels, or even a few years, and you've got alignment problems galore. Tightened and shortened everything. Years of lengthening ahead, the kind that high heels can't help you with. If you want to test that out, do a forward bend, the kind you learn in yoga. Stand or sit and bend, oh, somewhere around your waist. Keep your back straight as you bend. Good luck with that.

Tonight's South Park episode is the one where Butter is bi-curious. His parents send him to a camp for fear and oppression purposes. Butter is my favorite SP character. Observations spill out of him. He's right about everything, but it all comes out in question form or just a plain old declaration. Butter cuts through it. If any of the little South Parkians has any talent that they can grow up and market (to be determined), it will be Butter, who I predict will write. This is one of the episodes that I think Marc and I would have liked to watch together, so tonight I'll watch, and think of Marc (and laugh as though he is with us).