12.21.2006
I can feeeeeel the wind on my cheeks!
Helllloooo....and happy Christ-Kwanz-ukkah!!
Please allow me to introduce myself. I am Mellen's invitation to the Peace Corps and I'm on an intrepid journey across this great country of ours. I set out from Washington D.C. on December 6th or 7th (I'm not really sure...I tend to think of dates as frivolous and too constrictive) and began meandering through various cities, towns and postal workers' hands while making sure that my desires for adventure and exploration were simultaneously fulfilled. I mean, why hurry when I've finally managed to get out of that stifling, bureaucratic city that is our nation's capitol?
Exactly.
So, after spending a full day saying "good bye" to all my fellow parcels and envelopes, I headed out...first stop: Ashville, North Carolina. Why Asheville, you ask? Well....why not, I say! Asheville's zoo happens to be the home of my favorite, most comfortable and friendly way to travel long distances...three-toed sloth!
If you've never traveled via sloth, I highly recommend it. There's no better way to slowly take in the breath-taking scenery that surrounds us every day. You know, that's the problem with the world today...we don't see the importance in absorbing the details of life. We're always "Go! Go! Go! Hurry! Hurry! Hurry! There's not enough time!!!"
But, no, not me...at least, not on this journey. I want to live...I want to experience it all...sure, I may just be an envelope stuffed with papers containing important information, but that doesn't mean that I don't feel.
SO, sloth and I took our time strolling through the South...through South Carolina and Georgia...sipping mint juleps on front porches...exclaiming, "I do declare!" every time there was something....well...to declare. I haven't made if to customs yet, so I'm not sure if there will be more of this in the future.
By the time me and Ole' Three-Toey (he lets me call him that now) ambled down to Alabama...three weeks later...I was ready to cut loose. In Birmingham, I boogied into the wee hours of the morning to various 80's dance hits...you know, D.C. is one thing, I mean, some like it hot...but, personally, when I feel the heat, I decide that I just can't go on. So, I figured, since I'm not really in much of a hurry, I'd just saunter my way through Alabama for a few days...
Eventually, we made through Mississippi, stopping only at all the Civil War battlegrounds and staying overnight at each one, and into the Big Easy. Here in New Owwwwllins (that's how the locals say it down here...and, we're considering hanging out long enough to become "locals"...so, I'm practicing)...Ole' Three-Toey decided he wanted to meet up with some of his friends at the local aquarium.
Boy, oh boy, did he have some real activities in mind! After picking up his buddies, the snail and the Galapagos tortoise, they announced their plans to participate as a team in the National Curling and Chess Tournament that just so happened to be taking place in New Orleans this year....what a treat!!
Louisiana was nice. Real nice...so nice that I didn't want to leave, but, alas, Texas beckons. Three-toey and I thought it was about time to mosey our way to the Lone Star State. You know...we've got some sites to see...back in Alabama, a gentleman told me of a place in East Texas with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to watch some paint dry. How can a pass up an offer like that? Also, I hear there's some nice rodeo outside of Houston that I'd like to catch.
As for Austin, well...you know...with the holidays here and everything, I'm really in no hurry to get there. Because, shit, as soon as I'm in Austin, my journey will abruptly end and all my guts of informational papers will be ripped out and mentally consumed!
And, I don't know about you, but that sounds quite unpleasant to me...soooooooo, me and Ole' Three-Toey, we'll get there when we get there.
Please allow me to introduce myself. I am Mellen's invitation to the Peace Corps and I'm on an intrepid journey across this great country of ours. I set out from Washington D.C. on December 6th or 7th (I'm not really sure...I tend to think of dates as frivolous and too constrictive) and began meandering through various cities, towns and postal workers' hands while making sure that my desires for adventure and exploration were simultaneously fulfilled. I mean, why hurry when I've finally managed to get out of that stifling, bureaucratic city that is our nation's capitol?
Exactly.
So, after spending a full day saying "good bye" to all my fellow parcels and envelopes, I headed out...first stop: Ashville, North Carolina. Why Asheville, you ask? Well....why not, I say! Asheville's zoo happens to be the home of my favorite, most comfortable and friendly way to travel long distances...three-toed sloth!
If you've never traveled via sloth, I highly recommend it. There's no better way to slowly take in the breath-taking scenery that surrounds us every day. You know, that's the problem with the world today...we don't see the importance in absorbing the details of life. We're always "Go! Go! Go! Hurry! Hurry! Hurry! There's not enough time!!!"
But, no, not me...at least, not on this journey. I want to live...I want to experience it all...sure, I may just be an envelope stuffed with papers containing important information, but that doesn't mean that I don't feel.
SO, sloth and I took our time strolling through the South...through South Carolina and Georgia...sipping mint juleps on front porches...exclaiming, "I do declare!" every time there was something....well...to declare. I haven't made if to customs yet, so I'm not sure if there will be more of this in the future.
By the time me and Ole' Three-Toey (he lets me call him that now) ambled down to Alabama...three weeks later...I was ready to cut loose. In Birmingham, I boogied into the wee hours of the morning to various 80's dance hits...you know, D.C. is one thing, I mean, some like it hot...but, personally, when I feel the heat, I decide that I just can't go on. So, I figured, since I'm not really in much of a hurry, I'd just saunter my way through Alabama for a few days...
Eventually, we made through Mississippi, stopping only at all the Civil War battlegrounds and staying overnight at each one, and into the Big Easy. Here in New Owwwwllins (that's how the locals say it down here...and, we're considering hanging out long enough to become "locals"...so, I'm practicing)...Ole' Three-Toey decided he wanted to meet up with some of his friends at the local aquarium.
Boy, oh boy, did he have some real activities in mind! After picking up his buddies, the snail and the Galapagos tortoise, they announced their plans to participate as a team in the National Curling and Chess Tournament that just so happened to be taking place in New Orleans this year....what a treat!!
Louisiana was nice. Real nice...so nice that I didn't want to leave, but, alas, Texas beckons. Three-toey and I thought it was about time to mosey our way to the Lone Star State. You know...we've got some sites to see...back in Alabama, a gentleman told me of a place in East Texas with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to watch some paint dry. How can a pass up an offer like that? Also, I hear there's some nice rodeo outside of Houston that I'd like to catch.
As for Austin, well...you know...with the holidays here and everything, I'm really in no hurry to get there. Because, shit, as soon as I'm in Austin, my journey will abruptly end and all my guts of informational papers will be ripped out and mentally consumed!
And, I don't know about you, but that sounds quite unpleasant to me...soooooooo, me and Ole' Three-Toey, we'll get there when we get there.
