Oh say can you see, the water bottles waitin’ for me?

The coffee tastes of cardboard, but it’s coffee. At 4 a.m., who can ask for more?

Time zones pass by & the auto-adjust on tech does not always keep up. It is disconcerting to be without a time, as much so as to be without a place. Fortunately HeyGoogle knows the time.

The motel room starts out so tidy. I open suitcase & toiletries & immediately it looks like a Broadway dressing room, only not quite so colorful. I definitely do not recall putting my sweater on the rail in the bathroom, but there it drapes.

A blurry tv noise sounds from upstairs – it has been on all night at the edges of aural life. The 3 a.m. revelers in search of an ice  machine have come & gone. There is no volume control on such.

I open one blackout curtain, but only darkness reflects back.

I am finding the free-fall of travel different now. Not quite the adventure it was, since nothing is new. Maybe the cities in America are vibrant & keen, but the outskirts still crumble until the next Home Depot appears on cue, on the horizon.

When the topper on the car sings, I know I’m going faster & sure enough, the big round numbers in front of me read 80. I pass whomever I’m passing & cut back over to the right lane, with an eye out for when my route continues to the left…Fortunately, the car tells me true…

My feet feel cold a lot more than ever before? Is this some neurological deficit? Where do those words fit into the vocabulary of a Days Inn?’

The check in clerk was scrubbing at her shoe, holding one finger up before buzzing me in. She tells me how much she LOVES Florida upon taking my license. I vaguely smile as she says “say hi for me when you go back!” I cannot process that thought in the moment.

It is too early to ready up & drive on. Too late to re-sleep, tho my eyes are tired. I know breakfast will energize me enough to fold into the car, belt up & tune in all devices… but I wish I could sleep a bit more.

I have to put up one leg & climb into the king-size bed. I am a bit less than Princess-size myself. The world has grown tall for 5’ (no longer 2) femmes like moi. I have to take a kind of rocking jump for stools in restaurants. I keep affirming, “I am condensing!” rather than shrinking. (Yes, I’ve used that one before, but the chances of your having read it, or retained it give me leave to use it again here.)

I clutch my stretched-out sweater around  me. I wear it in the car. I sleep in it. I’m using it like Linus’s blanket this trip since the usual one is somewhere in the back of the car. I’ll look for it before I go.

I am going to lie down again now & close my eyes. The phone is charging on the bedside, playing “Sleep” channel on Pandora. Too many lights are on, so I’ll have to climb out of bed & back in, but there’ll be this warm spot waiting.