WHO said the States in the Great Wild West were unconquerable?
They courageously and happily went through the rigors of exploration: DD, RR, DR, WR, JCL – five brave souls: David Dingus, his wife my daughter Randy Raissa, my grandchild Danika Raine gifted by her parents IQ, and her sweetheart Wade Robertson, a young Navy Veteran who aspires to be an accountant. And, of course, yours truly whose imprimatur you’ve been reading for more than two decades now.
What a great wild west! Description is by me alone because along the highway are mountain animals whether in frolic or in tussle.
In my whole lifetime it never occurred to me that I would be seeing herds of bison, one about to encroach head-on at our car. I couldn’t help reminisce lines from our elementary years when, as Girl Scouts, we sang songs as we fed branches of dead wood into a glowing campfire:
Oh give me a home / where the buffalo roam / where the deer and the antelope play / where seldom is heard a discouraging word / and the skies are not cloudy all day.
We saw several beautiful country homes, far from city life, but very close to Mother Nature. I felt very much invigorated as I viewed green fields of varying grains and vegetables, sights reminiscent of writer Ernest Hemingway’s Green Hills of Africa.
Just a thought: What if I write Hemingway-like a short story titled Field of Dreams about our very own rural Pinoy farmers harvesting verdant fields of rice and corn? Maybe someday.
Indeed, why not?
We traversed through ten States – Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Wyoming, and South Dakota – in A Home Away From Home. I set it in bold italics for emphasis because the RV (Recreational Vehicle) we were riding was very much like that – a home replete with its own kitchen, refrigerator, dining table, and bed space for us five travelers I aptly called Conquerors, our RV being named Conquest.
We lingered at YELLOWSTONE National Park Established 1872, its yellow-rimmed geysers reflecting the yellow weed flowers growing by the roadside. I couldn’t help buying a brightly-lit T-shirt for souvenir.
We stopped at Mt. Rushmore where faces of four Presidents – Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt, Lincoln – were chiselled on the cliff. How proudly I could have donned my very own T-shirt emblazoned with a portrait of our National Hero Jose Rizal with the famous imprint of his NOLI ME TANGERE on the side.
I suggested to daughter Randy: Ship your RV to the Philippines and we’ll scour the whole of Panay, Guimaras, and provinces of LUZVIMINDA that stands for Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao. Another Indeed, why not?
This olint soonestdster, 83 years young (!) could only keep on dreaming of further excursions, nay explorations.
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Postscript: Throughout our 13-day sojourn, the love and care of Randy and David overpowered my heart-felt Salamat gid and other Thank you expressions.
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Comments to jclagoc@gmail.com are most welcome./PN
