It's Picture Day

Okay, I have no energy to be witty today, so I'm just going to cut to the chase and show you some pictures I took last weekend.  And I'm just going to come out and say it--I went to the beach.  Be jealous, Inlander.  Granted, I wasn't wearin' my baggies or huarachi sandals--in fact, I was quite bundled up--but the beach is the beach, no matter what season.

The Atlantic Ocean from Chincoteague Island (pronounced Shink-oteague).  I guess it's kind of a big deal that it's one of the only places in America where you can still find wild ponies.  I don't know, from what I saw, they looked a lot like nice little domestic ponies.  Ah well, I guess I looked that gift horse in the proverbial mouth.

BOO!  Creepy horseshoe crab, about a foot from end to end.  My uncle says they're related to the flea and can get five times bigger than that!  Ug-gh-guguh!

I decided that some some serious beach bum must have decorated this for a Christmas tree.  It kind of reminds me of Castaway.

Now, pay attention here--this picture is very clever, and I'm quite proud of it.  I entitled it "Reaction."  Can you see why?

(The footprints in the upper left are mine, by the way--for some reason I was particularly jumpy that day.)

Sunset over the marshy bay waters.  Man, I'm good.  Either that, or the artist is.



Whelp, see ya later.

P.S.  It's February.

Five reasons I like living on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, thus far...

Honorable Mention:  Beach.  Dude, just twenty minutes and I'm there with the wild ponies and seashells and the wide Atlantic.

Five:  Convenient winter.  I actually went for a jog last Wednesday on clear roads and in the sun!  We've got the bitter cold (currently, anyway) that I'm used to, but there's no snow left on the ground and it's been sunny almost every day for the week and a half that I've been here.  I suppose I miss the snow, but not as much as I thought I would, because the cold and bare trees make it decidedly winter still.  Also, I think it's hilarious that they call a snow day for one inch of snow, and they have a late start for fog at least once a week (my first was last Wednesday, unbeknownst to me when I showed up to school on time/an hour early).

Four:  Nice people.  Maryland is technically the South, and they'v got that Southern hospitality.  They've even got a bit of a drawl!  Which, by the way, I've already picked up a little, especially during the school day when I'm surrounded by all my black students and the other teachers--I don't know if at school I ever finish out a word's proper ending: "Uh'm jus' finishin' up 'ere, ah'll be down t' start plannin' in a minih.  Hey, d'you wan' me t' grab the packeh y'gave me this marnin'?"  It's downright lazy talk.  But kinda fun.

Three:  Business variety.  I love seeing so many non-chain restaurants and interesting businesses.  Not that you don't get that anywhere else, but because it's all new to me here, I notice it more.  The grocery store chain I go to is called Food Lion, and when we got pizza the other night, we had to choose between Mioni's, J & J's, and Ledo's.  It makes me feel like a local!  And I can't wait for crab season so I can cash in on what Maryland is famous for.

Two:  Old buildings.  Everywhere.  You drive down any road out here (out-in-the-country criss-crossings of Route This and That or Such-and-Such Parkway, through tiny towns, past great flat fields and chicken farms, down tunnel-like avenues of twiggy trees) and old houses will be constantly shambling by--gabled windows, wraparound porches, brick, stone, lots of little windows that indicate small but plentiful rooms...you can just feel the history in the materials and the designs.  My aunt showed me a house they had considered buying...it's called Chanceford Hall (what a title!) and it is absolutely beautiful, both towering and sprawling and displaying a million windows, with bare winter trees and vines snugly surrounding it...you could go down under the house and find the old kitchen that was once staffed by servants and a fireplace plenty big enough to roast a bear, or go up in the attic and see in the beams the original pegs that the builders used in the 1760's.  Ohh.  It's my dream to live one day in a house that full of history and memories.

And Number One:  Proximity.  You can drive to pretty much anywhere of historical American significance in the morning and return home by night.  For instance, yesterday I went on a day trip to D.C.  That's right.

Woke up like it was any old Saturday morning, then the family just decided to drive up and check out the sights at our nation's capital.  So that's what we did--packed some sandwiches and hit the road...three hours later I'm gaping out the car windows in awe at the Washington Monument and the maze of freeways and traffic lights built over top of 200-year-old roads and in between 200-year-old buildings.  We went to the Smithsonian Museum of Space and Flight (an excellent choice, considering I had as a touring companion my rocket-scientist uncle) where I saw the Spirit of St. Louis (in which Charles Lindburgh made his historic flight across the Atlantic) and Amelia Earhart's plane that made the same trip, a WWII bomber cockpit, a model of the Wright Brothers' first plane, USSR and U.S. missiles from the Cold War, huge pictures taken by the Hubble telescope and Mars rovers etc. etc., and coutless other amazing, wonderful, breathtaking exhibits.  (It's all right, I won't be offended if you call me a mega-nerd--I'm too starstruck.)  Then we trotted across the Mall to the Museum of U.S. History (glimpsing the Capitol on it's Hill down the way) to catch a few exhibits before it closed, including the original Star-Spangled Banner--you know, the one Francis Scott Key saw flying over the rockets' red glare, which inspired him to pen our national anthem.  And oh my goodness, we didn't even see half of the cool stuff in all the Smithsonians...not even a tenth!  You probably couldn't spend a month there and see everything there is to see.  And we didn't even get to visit (though we drove past) the White House and the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial...and I'm sure there's tons more to do in D.C.  Luckily, I live close enough that I can go back any time!

Three hours to D.C., three to Baltimore, four and a half to New York City, four to Philadelphia...Boston, Connecticut, Vermont for the snow, Maine for the rocky coast...it's all a day or less away.  The East Coast is thick with cities where things happen, whether they mean them to or not.  You understand why I feel like I live in the middle of America?  I can feel the presence of these centers of life and history all around me--it's all at my fingertips.  I've concluded that it's the perfect place for a single twenty-something looking for adventure and life and excitement.  Which is what I am.  And you know what, dear reader?  You can visit and share it all with me!

The Comfort Zone

You won't believe this, but I was in Maryland for less than 24 hours before I landed a job.  Call it luck, call it unheard of--I call it divine appointment.  And after my first day, I'm sure hoping God's not planning on leaving me alone to deal with it!  I should start at the beginning.  Remember that interview that I had but I didn't get the job?  Well...

Wednesday, January 5--I get a call from a 410 number while I was Skyping with Elisha at my aunt and uncle's house in Austin.  Guy with Scottish accent tells me they want to interview me for a job as a math intervention teacher at their school.  I say yes, of course! but I'm not actually there--and where is there again?  Wicomico Middle School?  (That's pronounced why-com-ih-coh.)  Rings a bell...I figure out that it's the district I applied to back in December.  All right, then!

Thursday, January 6--I have a phone interview with the folks at Wi Middle, sitting on my aunt's guest room bed, with  my computer opened up to all my notes (ah, the convenience of phone interviews).

Monday, January 10--They said they were trying to get everything settled by the end of last week, so when they didn't call me Friday or Monday, I figured I didn't get it.  Ergo, blog post.

Wednesday, January 12--On the road again, doing the last leg from Oklahoma to Maryland, and I get a call from...none other than Wicomico Middle.  Lo and behold, they want to interview me again! in person! it's down to two people! they need to get everything settled by the end of the week! am I available tomorrow morning?!  No, I am not available tomorrow morning.  I will be somewhere in Kentucky.  But Friday afternoon?  Yes, that works, see you at 2:00!

Thursday, January 13--Pull up to Uncle Bob and Aunt Bonnie's house at 8:30 pm.  Exchange greetings and happiness and weariness with family.  Roll into bed.

Friday, January 14--
     8:00 am--Wake up on my own from nervousness.  Begin chatting with Aunt Bonnie, eating breakfast, interview prepping, and doing calming exercises/loafing around the house.
     10:00--Discover that a pipe burst from freezation in the house, so no water.  Gasp!  No shower?!  This is probably more information than you want to know, but there are those of us who can get away with showering every other day, and there are those who can't.  I am of the latter group.  Two whole days of grease in my hair is not a pretty sight.  But I rise to the occasion, as Anne says.
     2:00pm--Interview.
     2:40--Leave interview.
     2:55--Receive call from Wi Middle.  Bad news...they'd like to hire me for the position!  Fireworks go off in my head!  Crowds are cheering!  A few enthusiastic near-expletives!  I pull over (no driving with that adrenaline) and call my mom and aunt and text Elisha (whom I was actually in the middle of texting back that the interveiw went pretty well, but you never know).

So that's how it went.  And here's how today went.

My job is technically a long-term substitute for a 7th grade math intervention teacher.  That means I go to each of the 7 classes of pre-algebra and pull out various groups of students who need to work on different skills.  What this boils down to is that I have 126 students, I work with 5 different teachers, and I have no space in the school to call my own.

On top of that, they're junior highers.  'Nuff said.  And on top of that, this is an inner city school.  Sixty percent of the population is African-American, with a mixture of Asian, Indian, white, and  I'm sure there are some other ethnicities in there.  And do you remember junior high drama?  Well, this is the junior high drama that I experienced in little ol' Whitefish times twenty.  Let me elaborate--the following is what I witnessed in one day (remember, 7th graders, 12-14-year-olds): girl completely ignores me talking to her face, boy thinks he can solve 5q - 29 = 21 with a calculator and refuses to listen to why not, girl opens window shades to make faces at students in another class, girl opens connecting door and yells at students in other class, girl is dating so-and-so, girl has a different boyfriend every week, girl has a different boyfriend every day, boy used to be dating so-and-so (boy), boy now has a crush on so-and-so (girl), boy tells girl yeah keep looking at the teacher you go that way anyway, no you go that way, you go both ways, you're bisexual, your sandwich is bisexual, back row writes down nothing all period (except f*** you so-and-so in Sharpie on the desk), boy sent to office and found in bathroom, boy leaves for bathroom and never comes back, girl carrying prescription drugs in backpack and says she has them because she had a heart attack last Friday (not true), boy shooting rubber bands and talking across the classroom, girl just got back to school from maternity leave.

I guess it wasn't as crazy as it seems right there, but all that definitely happened today.  Shockingly, I am tired but not completely overwhelmed yet.  Maybe by tomorrow afternoon.  I've decided that I've just got to concentrate on teh problems I see and find some solutions fast, got to have a big personality (which I don't) and figure out how to get kids to listen to me, got to think of all the strategies I can possibly use and not take any crap from anybody and follow through on every single thing I say.  I've got to survive--and here's the trick, I've got to somehow get some math into these kids' heads at the same time.  While learning the system.  While learning how to be a Marylander.

I have my work cut out for me, non?  But it's no use doing things you're comfortable with all the time--you get nowhere in life, and I'm pretty sure you end up restless and unhappy.  That's my philosophy right now, anyway.  I just pray for the energy to keep up with the life I've chosen.

Finale (Episode 4)

I am here, dear reader, at last!  After 4,540 miles, 80 hours (spread over 18 days), 15 states, and 4 time zones, I've finally reached my destination in Newark, Maryland.  There's so much more east of the Mississippi, which is one of the reasons I wanted to move out here.  This final leg has definitely been the most interesting.  The signs speak for themselves:

Santa Claus, IN
Waddy, KY
Pig's Ear Rd. (WV)
Big Chimney, WV
Big Otter, WV
Big Lantern Rd. (MD)
Big Savage Mountain, MD
Noah's Ark Begin Rebuilt Here! (next to an actual wooden, ark-like structure!) (MD)
Cox Neck Rd. (MD)
Romancoke, MD
Pig Neck Creek (MD)
Beaver Neck Village, MD
Rockawalkin Rd. (MD)
Big Assawoman (and Little Assawoman) Bay (MD)

And here are the pictures...and I must give you fair warning.  I tried to take pictures of all the things I thought were significant and that I have never seen before.   So you'll feel rather like you're listening to the ravings of a fanatic--or worse, a tourist--as you're reading through these.  Ye be warned.

So I decided that I would make this last leg a sight-seeing tour--might as well, since I won't be back for a while.  My first stop was Independence, Missouri, where the Oregon Trail allegedly begins, according to the game Oregon Trail that I played in elementary school.  However, I didn't have enough time to stop at the actual Frontiers Museum, so I substituted the historical Independence Square...to make a long story short--er, these are all the sights I could have seen if I weren't in a hurry and if there wasn't a foot of snow ont eh ground.  (The next two pictures are in Independence.)

This one is an actual historic building!  I mean, you can see Harry Truman's house if you look past the trees and the grime on my windows.

An antique store where destiny takes a hand in the lives of lovers.

You could get a lot of beer in these kegs.

I can't believe how bad these pictures are.  But I had to have a record of the Missouri River, which I crossed twice.

The Gateway Arch in St. Louis was the only real national landmark I saw on my voyage over.  Needless to say, I was enthusiastic.

There are only so many takes I can do to try to fit me and a gigantic landmark in the same shot with the camera held at arm's length...in the frigid cold.  But I promise that white thing behind the trees is really the arch.

Turn around, and...there's the Mississippi River!  Feel my joy!  If I could have, I would have gone a couple hours north to see Hannibal, Missousi, where Mark Twain grew up.  Note for future trip.

And a look back from the MLK Bridge.

So I stayed in Louisville that n ight, and I was trying to think of touristy things to do there, so I thought, What is Louisville known for?  I mean, Looeyville...Looaville?...Loovul?  Aha, they're known for the name itself.  So my tourist activity here was to go around asking locals how they pronouce their city.

Me going crazy in the car from driving through those darn-blasted, everlasting--but beautiful--Appalachian Mountains.

License plate!

Psych!

West Coasters--BP actually exists!  I didn't believe it until I started seeing them around here.

Ignoring the sign and road--aren't these houses just picturesque?  I am in love with East Coast buildings!  Also, everyone tells me the scenery is unsightly in the winter when all the trees aren't green or autumnal, which may be true, but I think there's still loveliness in all those bare branches against the snow.

More pretty East Coast houses!  This is in Cumberland, Maryland, still in the Appalachians.

So right here you should be looking at a Pennsylvania hill (see the dashed state line on my GPS?), though the road never went up into it.  I also stopped in a town called Hancock which was in Maryland, but two miles south of Pennsylvania and a quarter mile north of West Virginia.

My worst picture ever, but a record of my first toll road, the Bay Bridge from Annapolis to the Peninsula where Newark is!

And that's enough for now, though there's lots more to tell.  I can say, though, that I've had--seriously--the time of my life on this trip.  And I'm looking forward to more of the same living out here in Maryland!  Thank you, reader, for keeping me in your prayers!  And now for the final time, as I say on my super-cool Voice Memo, over and out.

This must be the Witch's Narnia. (Episode 3)

I am back in the snowy lands!  (Yep, got out my boots this morning.)  And am I ever, judging from the drive we had yesterday (Dallas to Bartlesville, OK).  I can't say my cousin, who drove with me, and everyone else didn't warn me.  I think these pictures speak for themselves:

The White Witch has turned me to stone!  (Ice is a kind of stone, right?)

Rusty was a stud and drove the last half to give my white knuckles a rest.

You should see the other guys!

The shards of my window scraper after I used it as a hammer to de-ice the front of my car, posing with its conquered ice chunks.

Other notes: I've been having a wonderful series of visits, adding to both sets of grandparents and aunts and uncles in Arizona as well as my cousin in El Paso, now my aunt and uncle in Georgetown (near Austin), Andrew in McKinney (near Dallas), and currently my cousin in Oklahoma.

me and Aunt Linda

Also!  I had a job interview (on the phone) last Thursday, which was extremely exciting--here I am preparing...

...but I didn't get the job.  Sorry, folks.  I'm still planning on subbing and looking for other work when I get where I'm going.

At any rate, tomorrow it's back on the road for the final push to Maryland.  Yes, I know the weather will be horrible.  But I think I've proven myself.  Besides, if you know me, you know I hate waiting around.  Stay tuned for more updates.

Cheerio! (Episode 2)

To begin with, everything I read today becomes a British accent in my head.  I believe that this is the direct result of listening to the Chronicles of Narnia on cd practically all day yesterday.  The upshot of all this is that you, reader, must read the following with a British accent, so that we may be on the same page.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank some of the sponsors of my trip.  First of all, the Worrier Warriors.  There are too many of you to mention here, but many thanks to my mom, grandmas, aunts and uncles, and friends.  I truly appreciate that you are thinking of and praying for me.  And now, to all you whom I've just thanked for worrying, I entreat you to STOP.  It's a drive across the country, not into a terrorist attack or a murderer community or a hurricane.  Besides, I'm not alone as you thought.  Which brings me to my next...I would now like to extend my gratitude to my traveling companions: cell phone, iPod, camera, gps, cd player, Zune.  Though you come with myriad cords attached, you make my drive a safer one.  And a more interesting one, which is more important.

Speaking of interesting...

New Mexico, Land of Enchantment.  And of snow, apparently.  And vandalism.

New Mexico is a lot like I remember it from years ago: a whole lot of flat nothing, broken up hither and thither by a speed limit sign or a particularly thick growth of yuccas.

Also, did you know that the Continental Divide happens to run through New Mexico?  This interesting bit of trivia was quite hammered into my head, as I passed numerous billboards that indicated all kinds of things you can get at the Continental Divide: Continental Divide Turquoise Jewelry, Continental Divide Leather, Continental Divide Mexican Imports, Continental Divide Snake Stuff...Continental Divide Native American Gifts, Continental Divide Moccasins, Continental Divide New Mexico Souvenirs, Southwest Blankets, Southwest Dolls, Imported Textiles, Fireworks! Pottery! Exit Now! Continental Divide Stuff!  Then I passed the actual Continental Divide, and there was one big gas station...still in the middle of nowhere.

Me and my hot-shot cousin, who's stationed in El Paso.

Just before I met him for lunch I drove over the Rio Grande, which I thought was significant because it's a river I've actually heard of.  Unfortunately, I do not have a picture of it because the person who was supposed to take it is a picky picture taker and couldn't get a good shot.  Also, she was driving over a bridge at 70 miles per hour at the time.

This is Texas.

Well, this is the boring part, anyway.  Texas actually welcomed me kindly and told me to "Drive Friendly, The Texas Way."

Ah, yizz, thizz is whut is colled the Pecos gobbledeguppawigga.  I finally turned off that endless interstate to take the more interesting highway route through small towns and historical places.  This historical place turned out to be a historical dud:

...It looked so boring that I didn't bother reading the sign, so what you see is what you get.

But aside from that one, backwater Texas has some pretty great places:

Iraan, with "Iraan's Pride, the Big Red Band"

Eldorado (Town of...Black Gold, perhaps? "oyl, that is")

Poor Hollow (stream)

Toe Nail Tr.

Sleepy Hollow (stream--spooooky)

Grit

Gooch Cemetery

Art

Chew Cemetery

Play Shuffleboard at Fuzzy's Corner!

Oatmeal

And here are some more I like from other parts I drove through yesterday:

Dragoon Rd.

Hook and Anchor Rd.

War Rd.

"Caution, Dust Storms May Exist" (for the record, I have never debated the existence of dust storms)

"Littering is unlAWFUL" (get it, awful, unlAWFUL?)

Truth or Consequences (another Phantom Tollbooth town)

Elephant Butt...oops, sorry, Elephant Butte

Buy-Moria...dang it, again!  I mean Balmorhea

Nutt Ranch (with a road leading off to...nuttin')

"Don't Mess With Texas" (littering sign)

Right-o, then.  I'm back on the road in another day.  Cheerio from Texas!

[This concludes our British accent part of the program.  You may resume your ordinary accent.]

Episode 1

As you know, dear reader, I am in Tucson, Arizona.  And it snowed yesterday.  Yes, this is where people go to escape snow.  No, I am not joking.  My family here accused me of pied-piper-ing the snow down here, and I neither confirm nor deny this theory.  You see, I cried tears of sadness in bidding the snow farewell about 20 miles north of St. George, Utah, so I can't say that Mt. Lemmon dressed in white, frost on my car this morning, and gusts of chilly wind are not wholly unwelcome to me, though my cold-wuss relatives may feel differently.

If you know me at all, you already know I am a nerd.  Therefore, the following should come as no shock, O Respectful and Humorous Reader.  Some time ago I determined that such an adventure as I am having must be documented.  Surely--surely, I thought to myself--many pleasant and hilarious things are liable to happen to one when one is driving across the country.  I have been slightly disappointed in this so far, but not knowing this, I equipped myself with my camera and my iPod, which, dear reader, I am happy to report has a lovely little feature called Voice Memo with which one may record words, without the trouble of writing them down (this feature is especially useful for traveling writers who do not own a hands-free and attention-free motor vehicle).  Yes, it is quite true.  However, sad to say, my brilliant Voice Memo plan backfired a bit, because I came to discover that I feel extremely...what's the word...idiotic talking to myself, into a machine.  (If you're wondering, No, you do not feel like a cool newspaper reporter as I had hoped.  You feel idiotic, like I said.)  But, for lack of more flattering options, I forced myself to stammer out this and that notable thought or event that occurred along the road.  At any rate, with such essential equipments that I had, I was ready to make a photomentary, a voice recordamentary, and ultimately a blogomentary.  (It's hard to tell, but that's what this is, by the way.)  Following is the transcript from my car notes:

Nope, I don't have the guts to print it.  But here are some fun/funny signs I passed...

Memory Ln.
Arlee, MT, "Where They Distribute Things"
Whitworth Dr. [alma mater, baby!]
Bearmouth Area [really, Montana?]
Wisdom, MT [reminds me of The Phantom Tollbooth]
Speed Limit 80 [UT--I know, right?!]
Sulpherdale, UT [pee-yew!]
Miner's Creek Prospector's Club [AZ--I wonder what they prospect...]
Horse-pitality RV Park [AZ]
Surprise, AZ [too bad it's on the map--if it weren't, you'd just be driving along, then--Surprise! there's a city here!]
Miracle Mile [road in AZ]
Michelle Rd. [AZ]

And here is the photomentary portion...

 That's what sardines would look like if they were bags and boxes filled with my life.

Adios, Whitefish!

Um, yeah.  It's pretty scary.

Ah, I will miss driving Montana's dirty, slushy roads.

Elisha, I have a job for you which you will Relish.

Hoary, foggy, Scrooge-ish frost I found on my car after my first night on the road.

Cruisin' in style in central Utah.

Back on good old Highway 93 on the other side of Las Vegas (in Monana, in case you didn't know, I live a mile off of 93).  Little did I know, 93 in the south has traffic on it, especially the bit between Vegas and Hoover Dam.  It's all right, though, I spent the hour lunching on granola bars, following Nevada RVR DOG, and rocking out to music with the windows down.

I spy a cactus!!  I'm officially in the Southwest.  (Boulder City, NV)

I love those dam signs on Hoover Dam.  And this one happened to fit with my current state.

If you're from Arizona:  Look, it's the new bridge!
If you're from anywhere else and weren't aware they were building a bridge so the highway doesn't go over Hoover Dam anymore:  Look, it's a bridge!

Solar powered telephone in the middle of the Arizona desert.  I guess they have enough sun or something.

This is your cactus on drugs.

Me with crazy cactus and desert wind.

I knew you wouldn't believe me, so I took a picture of what my car looked like when I woke up this morning--notice the authentic cacti in the background in addition to the authentic frost covering my car.

And now, Happy New Year!  Make a resolution, eat chili, drink champagne, kiss someone, bang pots and pans--whatever you do, I entreat you to ring in the New Year with joy and optimism!