10/24/2014
Again and again I encounter strangers who touch my heart. These people bring my guard down and remind me that there is goodness in this world. In this day and age things move quickly, people are out to make big money, and conversations have become a sea of electronic acronyms. There are less dinner conversations and less time for meaningful human interaction.
My days of rest in Van Horn have replenished the resolve to make a difference in this world. Crystal and I were treated like royalty at the Hampton Inn Van Horn. Jessica the GM was so good to us. With a wonderful southern accent she would tell us, “Please let me know if you need anything.” They had everything we needed on a rest day; laundry room, plenty of food, and a bubbling Jacuzzi. Through conversations at breakfast, we discovered the hotel was completely booked. This made the donation of an additional night’s stay a big surprise. We were waiting for a care package from donors in California which hadn’t arrived just yet.
The Hampton Inn was just the beginning of this wave of kindness. We went to the Chevron station next door and we asked the manager Kimberly if they would be interested in donating a hot meal in exchange for books. She paid for our meal out of her own pocket. Crystal and I both had tortas which are like the sandwich cousin of the burrito. As I bit into a bean, cheese, potato and egg torta, Crystal devoured a chile relleno torta. We savored our sandwiches and enjoyed some good conversation.
I was happy to put the hills, the books, the animals, and the running aside for a moment. When I walked back to the room to rest my head I took a moment to take in my surrounding. My feet had carried me over 1100 miles so far. That’s one tenth of the journey in the bag. I soaked in the orange and crimson sky and silhouetted mountains. I sniffed the desert air and I thought of the many places I will go. When I was a young boy a certain Theodor Giesle, AKA Dr. Suess, wrote a little book called the places you will go. Can you tell me the author, the book, reading, and literacy didn’t have a direct impact on Papa Didos current status?
Leave a reply