I left Henry and Louise’s place in Weyburn, Saskatchewan at 10:30 am yesterday. I rolled into the motel in Eau Claire, Wisconsin at 12:48 am. Allowing for the time zone change and maybe one hour for eats and gas, I was driving for 12 hours. Oh Bruce, you silly goose. When I was planning this trip a couple of months ago in the comfort of my man chair, I thought “Three days to get home from Lance’s. No sweat.” Wrong.
I decided that the wilds of North Dakota and Minnesota would be perfect for listening to Ken Wilber non-stop. He’s a spiritual teacher whom I really like. So I enjoyed about 9 hours of Ken and me. He has so many cool ideas. Here’s just one:
Ken talks about “The Pre/Trans Fallacy”. His contention is that in our rational world, some people assume that anything non-rational is basically infantile, not allowing for the possibility that some behaviours outside of rational may come from a higher level of consciousness than the thinking mind. So … I’ve been trying to convince myself that what I often do with supermarket cashiers is the epitome of maturity. (By the way, I pronounce that word “e-pi-toe-m”, just for fun.) When it’s time for my debit card, I plug it into the machine, which I then hold to my ear like a phone. A brief but impactful conversation with my mother then ensues. “Hey mom. How are the clouds today … cirrus? … cumulus?” I’m sure you can detect the evolved being right away. Anyway, it’s fun, whether pre or trans.
Blissing out on Mr. Ken, I also had to embrace the world of semi-trailers and hills. After dark, east of Minneapolis, and fortified with a cup of coffee, I was still fading some. It felt like the road ahead was one endless hill, for at least half an hour. Maybe it was, or perhaps my mind had created a vision of upwardness.
Earlier, knowing that a midnight arrival was likely, I passed lots of vehicles and was usually 10 kph over the speed limit. Neither of those choices were “me”, or so I thought, but maybe I should expand my definition of Bruceness. In the late evening, I had no more oomph for passing so I quietly stayed behind a climbing (?) semi for many miles. Oh, for another coffee, but there was no neon until I took the exit in Eau Claire.
As you can tell from the existence of this e-mail, I made it. And I’ll make it again today. According to Google Maps, I’m 11 hours and 6 minutes from my home in Union, Ontario. Plus another time zone change. And the possibility of a border delay. I better get going.
Tomorrow morning, I’ll write my last road trip blog post. It’s bittersweet. I’ve sure enjoyed talking to you cyber folks.
GO BRUCE GO!!!!
You”ll be happy to know we have kept the same seating arrangement at the kitchen table and put Eric “the Nome” in your spot!