home again

I get to my aunt's before the appointed hour of eight. Dad is eating breakfast with them. He will later tell me he overslept, a thing he rarely does. I think he is still more tired than he admits. And having trouble sleeping sometimes. I pack up a little cheese and bread we have. And we are off at the appointed hour of eight.

We do the boring cotton and oil for a while, quite a while. We pursue our 'identify the road kill' game. We are on the home stretch and Dad will barely stop for bathroom and gas. He keeps hoping gas prices will be lower. We eat some of the cheese at a rest stop.

These are some forlorn towns. I remember yesterday asking my aunt how many restaurants were in Denver City. She held up two hands. Then she counted them on her hands. She got to seven. And that included the Dairy Queen and a homegrown hamburger stand that was just open for lunch 'since the kids started running it.' . She rued the lack of a 'dry goods' store and said she didn't think you could buy a spool of thread in Denver City.