It’s a wild world out there on a perfect day. A text revealed that Philadelphia friend, blog follower, aficionado of Limerick hurling and ultimate connector of dots, Kevin was in town: of course he was, alive and kicking.
The boys saddled up, weaved there way through Chicago traffic and observed the irony of the few remaining letters of the Trump Hotel sign, soon to be dismantled by popular demand: yes, it’s a perfect day.
Chicago has a fine tradition of Irish corruption and it was heartening to see that Rahm E is sustaining it as we were gouged $5.20 for a half mile toll road: the .20 was a nice touch, designed to afford the opportunity for dropping change and reflective contemplation in the consequent tailback.
A variation on the theme was delivered by Pence’s Indiana. This time a round $5, but no sign of how much until you reached the unmanned barrier. This delivered up the most uneven crumpled interstate yet. Maybe he’s diverting Pence’s pence to conversion therapy – his road to salvation. The first cut is the deepest.
The boys moved on, serenaded by Roseanne, Dolly and the Lumineers, singing of classy flapper girls like Angela, with flowers in their hair. And then a lighthouse guided us into Michigan.
Blair saw the opportunity to foster my diversity training and all seemed well.
On we went. Perhaps listening to Slow it Down did it, but suddenly we had a signal that we had lost some pressure in a front tire. We limped into a truck stop and Blair paid up to pump up in the hope that we could sustain the trip with intermittent positive pressure. If it works we can try CPAP for his snoring.
Back on the interstate we revealed the essential difference between the English and the Irish. I wanted continuously to monitor the tire pressure: as the theoretician I optimistically assumed our strategy would work. Blair, pessimistic yet practical, didn’t want to look and figured that when the lights started flashing, he would deal with it.
We needed that optimism to deal with 800 years of oppression. Turned out, fortunately, I was right, but stopping at a McDonalds we observed Mr T speaking to his supporters. However, we first heard part of our undercarriage descend again. The boys were up to fixing it (yes I pulled it back from the other side
but unlike Blair I didn’t simultaneously discuss a grant submission. What a multi tasker.
After all this trauma, passing by the delights of Kalamazoo, Paw Paw and the sadly neglected Flint, the boys decided it was time to flee the country for the People’s Republic of Canada.
Oh Canada! Home of Justin Trudeau, Leonard Cohen, the McGarrigles, Yannick, Jesus of Montreal and Colin Funk. All kinds of Roses. Taxes, public services and a foreign policy.
Hallelujah !!!
P.S. Kilometres per hour – not miles!
Ha
For sure
Vicariously enjoying your trip Garret – probably as close as I’ll get to a tour of the US. Just returned from a visit to the Beara Peninsula which is so beautiful this year. Many O’Sullivan allusions, Adrigole and Eoin Mor etc. Arrived home to see ‘Our’ Limerick defeat Cork! Onward and ….. Best wishes to you both, David
David
Great to hear from you. I wasn’t sure which was your email
I’m on the UL GA so sometime I’ll go to a meeting and we will get together
Every time I hear Marianne I think of you playing your guitar and singing it in Greystones
Of course I make the iconic Canadian list!
nothing compares to you !
Can someone please explain to me what Ian is up to falling a sleep on the tarmac ?
That was me working
I wonder if your pink shirt will ever recover the traumatic experience …… oil ~ tar ~ gravel and who knows what else ;
Very hardy – from NC State
Is that one of Trumps Warriors Watching TV ???
Did you secretly stay in the Trump Hotel ….
There are still some vestiges of his appalling taste
Did you both climb the light house to get some more steps in ?
It was a fake door
Hm, for some reason I never imagined Ian fixing a car, but rather taking it to a shop…
Dear Ian, you are a hero! Seeing you fixing the car while submitting your grant application on the phone and putting up with the occasional wise observations from G… I can relate sooo much… 🙂 !!
It took two of us! Hopefully the temporary fix will survive our trip to the USA. My grant application was totally unrelated