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July 8, 2003 ~ Blind White
Tuesday.
A soft glow began to permeate the cloudy white surrounding Pokey, and I could hear the growl approaching. I gripped the steering wheel tightly and focused all of my attention on the road in front of me. The glow became more and more intense, until all of the world was blind white, and the growl had become a roar. I tried to focus on the white line at the side of the interstate, but what is a white line in all that white? The semi-truck roared passed, probably traveling at 70 miles and hour, while I was going 45. (How can he possibly steer at that speed in this fog?) I sighed with relief as the glow surrounding the car turned red instead of white, the semi disappearing into nothingness ahead. Then, another semi came up behind me and we played out the whole process again.
It was 4:00 a.m., and the thickest fog I had ever seen. The world was glowing and invisible all at once. At 4:00 a.m., the only vehicles on the road were tons of semis and a Pokey carrying a Melissa home from work. After an 8 a.m. to 4 a.m. shift, you'd think that I'd be falling asleep at the wheel, but the fog and the huge trucks and invisible road had me more alert than I ever have been driving. It was probably adrenaline. I was thankful that I knew the road.
Exhausted, I fell directly into bed when I reached home, and did not float to consciousness until almost eleven the next morning, this morning. I haven't slept that late for... well, probably not since the last Residency. Since the students got today off, so did I, and I took full advantage of the day's slothful potential. Morgan and I spent all afternoon together, lounging about and catching up with one another, until he had to go to work his shift at the Co-Op this afternoon. I am going to write this, and then may very well take a little nap until he gets home, at which point we will leave to watch a movie together at the second-run theater.
Then, tomorrow, it's back into the long working hours of the Residency. It may be long hours, but at least by this point the momentum has slowed. Initial disasters averted, problems fixed, my work is not steady, smooth maintenance, which isn't so draining. I have time to slow down and get to know people and experience the Residency for what it is.
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