Population Unknown

Downtown Baltimore, MD in the distance

You're traveling down the road when you wake up. Your parents drove to the business in Baltimore, MD they had to deliver to earlier in the morning. Now you are headed to New Jersey. Your dad stops in Jessup, MD at the Country Pride Restaurant. The sky is gloomy and makes the day seem dreary. It's not chilly out at all and the humidity causes it to feel muggy. In the restaurant, it is cool and feels good. You sit down in a booth and your waitress comes up with menus. You have had her before. She is really friendly and warm. You talk with your family until your food come. The food is good and filling. You don't sit around after your finished.

You go with your dad to walk your dog once more before you leave. She stays next to you until you tell her it's okay. She wanders off and you and your dad look around. You spot where there is an in ground stream. It's water trickles over the curb into the parking lot. Your dog comes back and you head back to the vehicle. Before you get in you look at the forlorn sky. It stares back with a promise of rain. You climb in knowing that it is an absolute. You leave because your parents want to get loaded before the rain.

After you leave, you have to go over many bridges and through many cities. The buildings in the cities are crowded together like people on a subway. In some of the cities, the houses look like they are out of a book because all of them are the same from the outside. The thought of all of these people crammed into these towns with no privacy seems really boring. You have experienced traveling and to you this type of living would be bleak. But when you go over the bridges you experience the freedom from those little towns. The wide rivers stretch to both sides of you for miles. Some have brown water from the sediment at the bottom. Others are dark blue, but opaque. The powerful currents of these rivers push boats, ships, barges, and debris out to sea. Some of the debris gets caught against different obstacles like docks and bridge columns. They eventually become piles of logs and some have trash mixed in.

New Jersey has more towns than bridges, that is a sure thing. Most towns are small but combine to make larger ones. When you reach the next destination where your parents have to load it starts to sprinkle. That sprinkle turns into a constant rain. Eventually, after about an hour or so it slows back down to a sprinkle and you get out to stretch your legs. Every storm brings the gift of a rainbow. Whether you see it or not depends on the perspective. You see one that fade into the clouds to become half of a rainbow. You get some pictures of God's promise. Then you climb back in to look at them on your computer. Your parents finish loading and you start retracing your path back to Maryland. By the time you get halfway through New Jersey, everything outside has been swallowed by darkness.

You sit back and watch a movie with your sister until you get to Elkton, MD. You're in the fuel island helping your parents and then you walk inside to get ice. When you and your mom walk out the door you stand under the awning staring out. The storm from a couple days ago has caught up to you. The rain is gushing down and the wind is driving it sideways. It is pouring off of the roofs of the buildings gallons at a time. Your vehicle is not even 100 yards from you, but you don't want to go out there just yet. Your mom heads inside to get some bags to cover her shoes and you take off running. You are soaked within seconds. You watch your dad go inside as you climb in. No sooner does he step through the door that the rain stops. Sitting in the there staring out the windshield, your hair is wet and your shirt is soaked and sticking to you. If only you had waited not even another minute you wouldn't be soaked. Oh well, what's done is done. Your parents come back out and climb in. You find a parking spot for the night.