Some notes, from home.

Triple A just came by to unlock my van, by which I mean, the dude got out with his breakin kit and opened the passenger door, that wasn’t locked. I tipped him and apologized for being dumb and tired as shit. He didn’t mind the easiest job of his day.

We got back last night just after ten. It’s about eight hours from Amarillo to Austin, but we stopped in Shamrock to say hi to Oleta at the U Drop Inn. Woody got a pup cup at the cafe. Then we stopped at the red river to cool his paws and cool the engine, I thought.

The AC had been acting up, low air flow when the engine warmed up. And I assumed it was just going to be a hellish drive in near three digit temperatures. Fuck it. Austin or bust.

But it was too hot to even hang out at the river, no escape from the sun, and east of Amarillo, once you slide off the Llano Estacado, you hit the humidity you’ve been spared up on the mesa.

So we loaded back up and I started the engine. Looked at the temp gauge and it had only gotten hotter. It does. Without air or coolant running through, when you shut the engine off, the entire engine compartment heats before eventually cooling off. In fact it heated just enough to melt the ice. Ice? Sure. Why not. I mean fucking chips of ice blew through the vents, and the AC worked like a champ after that. Jesus Christ.

Texas seemed determined to give me the full welcome. We hit some thunderstorms around Abilene, pulled into a car wash to avoid the hail and took a nap. Then it was back on the road.

And then we were home. I don’t know what I was expecting from Woody. Something. Anything. A congratulations on finding the apartment he seemed to think I’d lost? He hopped out of the van, peed on a dumpster, trotted over to the stairs to my unit, reconsidered, and ran across the courtyard to check the locks on his friend, Silver’s door. Then he came in and sat in the kitchen to wait for a treat, like we’d just come home from a walk, a three month, 14,000 mile walk.

So I’m home.

Things I’ve lost:

one toothbrush

a passport

my cool headlamp

give or take $400 that I’d hidden with the passport

a girlfriend

one pair of wayfarers (goddamnit)

Calm down. Yeah let’s lock the rest of this.