Until now I’ve had plenty of time to compose my thoughts. But now, as I hastily write a final post in the Alternative Fuel coffee house in downtown Rapid City, I find myself with no time left. No time to tell the stories of a few other people I’ve met, who have left their lives in the east behind and are charting a new course for themselves here in the west. At least one of them, Karen, set out alone when in her 50’s. I found in her a bit of a kindred spirit. “I was dying back there. I was desperate for a change. I guess that doesn’t make sense.” “Yes,” I said. “It does to me.” We talked for some time. There are definite advantages to traveling alone. It is the purview of the single person to have an open ear and endless hours to listen. The reading from Isaiah 50 at Mass this past Sunday spoke to me. “The Lord God has given me an open ear, that I may hear.”
I hope I’ve heard well.
Thank you for joining me.
“Farewell.”
“Good bye!”
“Yeah! Thanks for coming!”
“We’re prairie dogs. PRAIRIE DOGS!!”
