The Road Scholar – Day 4

This day has been… a day. I’ve travelled from Memphis,
TN, where I unloaded at a food distribution warehouse (to the tune
of $260), on up to Union City, TN – located in the NW corner of the
state, just below the KY state line – where my load was picked up.
Trouble was, it SHOULD have been preloaded on a drop trailer. Since
I didn’t leave there until nearly 1600 cdt (4 p.m for the
non-military readers), that poses a problem with transporting the
product to Dawson, GA to be there by 0600 edt tomorrow… nearly
500 miles away. But I digress.., Here in Tanner, AL it’s a brisk
32°. A nice, peaceful rest area. Depending on where I’m at, I
prefer stopping at a rest area rather than a truck stop for several
reasons. The primary one being I don’t have to deal with the
traffic entering & exiting said truck stop, nor do I have
to endure the hassle of the occasional “lot lizard”. A “lot
lizard”, as with my previous post, is a term we truck drivers use
when we refer to the “ladies of the night” that tend to frequent
truck stops. They are much like the typical prostitute, except the
lot lizards are, and why mince words here, uglier… MUCH uglier.
If I were single & desperate (thankfully I am neither),
celibacy would be the only option I would gladly embrace. Here at
this rest area, the air is calm, the sky is dark and quiet, and the
trees are barren of their foliage. The grass is frosted and bears
the same tannish-brown hues most commonly seen in California’s
Mojave Desert. The Mojave is a region some see as bland and
lifeless – I see it’s beauty and personality; a place of solace.
But enough daydreaming. At this time of night, there is little
activity going on. And if not for the cooler temperatures, the
trucks parked here would not be idling. In about 2 more months,
that will be the case; then all that will be heard would be the
periodic whine of the refrigerated trailers, as their starters
begin the engine warming cycle, then the engine itself growling to
life, in its effort to maintain the temperature of its payload. I
look up to the sky but only see its blackness spread wide. If there
are any stars tonight, they can’t be seen through the bright
lampposts along the rest area’s perimeter. Yet, without these
blinding lights, I am reminded of the darkened expanse that were
all too familiar in the Arabian Desert. It’s daytime in that part
of the world now, but to our military men & women over
there now it’s still dismal. Be well, Marines, soldiers, and
sailors – I keep you in my prayers!