Campfire Stories

The First Day of the Rest of My Life

I left Colorado Sunday night beginning an Odyssey. 1000 miles, 4 states, thirteen and a half hours in a truck with a smelly 80 pound Labrador. I could not help but notice the symbolism in the road trip as I enjoyed the first day of the rest of my life.

I left a love behind. As I drove east on Highway 76 Sunday night, I sadly watched the Eastern Slope of the Rockies fade below the horizon. I absolutely love Colorado. But the love of Colorado is something that I am sacrificing for the woman that I desire to spend the rest of my life with. I had always thought that if I met somebody long distance that she would be coming to Colorado - I was wrong, and that is okay - I WANT to be in Minnesota because Shay is in Minnesota.

Nebraska stunk. When 76 turned into 80, it smelled for 5 minutes... then ten, then twenty. I'm looking in the back seat saying, "Jake! Did you take a dump back there?!?" I mean, it was awful. Not like driving past a smelly farm. Two hours worth of stink. And I'm not sure if I had just gotten used to it or if it had actually gone away!

I slept in the back of my truck. It was humble accomodations, but I was very warm and comfortable. Early in the morning I woke to a beautiful sunrise over the plains - something I had never seen before. Every sunrise I had ever seen had mountains involved - and the vastness and beauty of this sunrise was unlike any I had ever seen before. Not the most beautiful, but completely different - and I liked it.

In Iowa I drove under an overpass headed north into Minnesota. On the left side of the overpass on the downhill slope to the highway level was a dead black cow. Are you kidding me? I laughed very much out loud. What the heck? This was between the highway and the on-ramp! Did the meadow Mafia dump a body from last night's hit? What in the world is a cow doing dead on the side of the freeway?

I proposed in her office. Not exactly the most romantic of places - but it was where I wanted to propose. I want to make the mundane memorable - turn our normal lives into something beautiful and romantic. I am inviting her into my life, and asking to join hers. That is the adventure. That is the beauty. In this journey we will make sacrifices, we will pass THROUGH sections that stink, we will live modestly, we will see beauty unlike we have ever seen before. We will experience randomness together. We will be. I am the luckiest man alive.

posted by Devo @ 2:53 PM |