Life Without Internet

You lay in your bed a little longer. You realize you have done something that you haven't done in a long time: you slept in. You look outside and see a little restaurant. The building has obviously seen many years pass by. The old wood on the outside is stained from rains and other things life has thrown at it. You are just stopping for a short breakfast. After all, you want to get to your grandparent's today. You go inside and eat breakfast and leave.

You take a backroad to travel through the rest of Washington. You follow the Columbia River. It takes you through forests, by meadows, and farms. You pass by a nuclear facility. The fences that surround the facility are tall with razor blade wire at the top. And the fences are electric to deter anyone who would like to trespass. Signs on the fences warn people of radioactivity in the area. It is cool to see, but it also seems a little precarious. You're a little relieved to watch it disappear behind you. Before you exit the state you see sheep with their guard, a Great Pyrenees, sitting watch. The big white dog and the sheep remind you of Ralph Wolf and Sam Sheepdog. One of the best cartoons. They don't make cartoons like that anymore. Life was simpler back then and families stuck together. It isn't like that now.

Your mind drifts back to the present moment. You are passing a field black cows and a couple roan horses. The sky is a brilliant light blue above them. The clouds are big and fluffy, like cotton candy. It's like a living jigsaw puzzle that has been completed. Your thoughts fly with the clouds now. They wander from topic to topic; people and animals, past and present. A large black Chevy pickup passes by. It's jack up and blocks your view of the road ahead of you until it is gone. As soon as they are gone that is the last you'll see of them, just like the clouds. You reach fields of crops. Most consist of corn. The stalks are almost 4 feet tall already.


You cross the border and pass through Lewiston. It is hard to believe this town used to be the capital of Idaho. The little town and its industrial buildings and factories whiz by. You head south on Hwy 95. The trees swallow the road and shade everything under them from the sun. The shadows are long as it is already late afternoon. You pass breaks in the forest which open up to lush green meadows. In one meadow, you see an elk standing in the tree line.

The are silhouetted at dusk. The stars are already visible. They are beautiful and as the sun falls from the sky they multiply exponentially. In the last gleam of light from the sun you spot a hawk on its nest. A protector in the night.

It is dark when you get to New Meadows, which doesn't leave many things for you to do. Looking out the window you can see the dark figures that stand still like tall forest knights. The trees hide the moon and its light. You haven't seen another vehicle in quite a while. The loneliness makes you sleepy. The motion of the vehicle makes you fall asleep right where your at,