So after leaving Giant Animal Statuary Central, we landed at Marth's Bloomers to meet up with my college roomie, Leanne, and her youngest daughter, Allison Victoria.
Like Samantha Leanne, we had swapped baby middle names way back when. But we got so busy talking and eating, the only photo we managed was one on the way out.
And I'm holding a big fat cardinal.
That's because I'd initially thought about getting flowers for a visit to Nell's grave and then abandoned that idea when I vaguely remembered there was no flower holder there and it's freezing and raining and I'd rather leave something that could survive, not get run over by the lawn guys, and was heavy enough not to get blown away.
And there was this fat little guy, staring up at me from Martha's Bloomers, nice and heavy, and all symbolic in his happiness. Cardinals never leave, even in winter. Their color is so vivid and primal: fire and blood and energy and love, That'll do.
So I took him to the car and decided I should google search the county road of the cemetery since it was raining and I wasn't completely certain where the right turn on a very winding country road actually was.
Google let me down. It kept suggesting a cemetery in Alabama, or a cemetery near Navasota that wasn't named Whitehall. So we winged it. (Bird pun intended)
And on this long winding rainy road, I started thinking, we should have passed it by now. We got down to the Whitehall Feed Store and I decided to turn around and go back to the county road we'd just passed.
We drove down it and realized, nope, not this either. And I spotted a man out of his big duelly truck, closing the gate to his road, and pulled over. I'd hopped out and walked up saying "we're so lost" just about the time I glanced up to meet his gaze.
It was right about this time I think about my current buzzed hairstyle and ear cuffs as he gets this bemused, slightly alarmed look on his face. He didn't have to say it, but we both heard what he was thinking. Damn right, you are.
Beside us, in the drizzle, are all manner of farm animals: emu, llamas, ostrich. I decided to put this one in my back pocket for a short story.
But he was kind enough to assure me if I passed the Feed Store, I would see the right road just around the bend. And off we went. Sure enough, right road.
From there, we hit the long, boring road to Austin, stopping for gas and one of 5 million very clean bathroom stalls available at Buccee's.
Seriously, this is taken from the center of the store, in one direction.
ALL.THE.FLUORESCENCE.
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