What Exactly is Happening Right Now?

by | Jan 17, 2011 | USA

I write from a car in Kansas. We have not encountered the feedlots yet, but I’m hoping the cold air will help mute the smell. Here’s my attempt to distill this road trip into three words: fear of hemmorhoids. I really don’t want them. Sam said that hemmorhoids come in “cases.” If you have enough cases, then you have a brick. I don’t believe these terms are actually used by anyone other than Sam, but they are terrifying just the same.

We are four days into “Settling America.” An announcement is forthcoming concerning what that means. For now, I will show you the costumes involved:

Me in suit, tie, obnoxious sunglasses. Sam in cow costume. This picture was taken inside a Panera Bread Company in Northwest Ohio.

I have been back in the U.S. since December 15th. One month of friends and family. New York City, a farm upstate, Cleveland, OH, Washington, DC. Now a too-short stay in Chicago and Neodesha, Kansas get added to the list. I finish this post from Colorado where I’m staying near Gunnison, in the Rockies, with friends new and old.

The cold air did nothing to suppress the smell of the feedlots by the way. Western Kansas is a miserable place.

Upstate New York is not:

More content to come. If you’ve emailed recently, I apologize. Will catch up soon.

14 Comments

  1. Christy @ Technosyncratic

    I’ve only recently discovered your blog, so I’m pretty clueless about what’s going on, lol. But I’ll admit, the cow and MIB-esque costumes in a Panera restaurant are intriguing… 🙂

    Reply
    • phil

      Christy, no one knows what’s going on right now. Not even me. But thanks for stopping by and writing a comment 🙂

      Reply
  2. Jennifer Barry

    I agree about upstate NY, as I used to live there. Now I’ve become accustomed to warm weather and I can’t imagine living a whole winter there again! Point noted about Western Kansas, I will keep that in mind for US road trips.

    Thanks again for the interview! It should go up on my blog Tuesday or Wednesday. 🙂

    Reply
    • phil

      Where did you live in upstate NY? Thanks again for doing the interview, you asked some great questions!

      Reply
      • Jennifer Barry

        I used to live in Orange County (made famous by the chopper show) and I went to school for a while at Ithaca College.

        Reply
        • phil

          Nice. Ithaca is awesome. Been there a few times and always really enjoyed it. The farm I was at is in Katonah, not too far from the city.

          Reply
    • phil

      Are you? Then you’re totally nuts. I felt ill. Started peeping your site by the way and you can now count me in as a new subscriber. Look forward to reading more once I am somewhat more stationary.

      Reply
  3. Ayngelina

    Bizarre as always, but I love it!

    Reply
    • phil

      Thanks Ayngelina!!

      Reply
  4. Andi

    Welcome home! You look like Pitbull, love it!

    Reply
    • phil

      Who is that?

      Reply
  5. Katrina

    tiny correction needs to be made – that panera is in northEAST ohio. also, i feel somewhat slighted by the lack of credit given to the photographer in said panera.

    Reply
    • phil

      Amherst is Northeast? really? Sorry for the omission. On the official website you will be credited. How many golden eggs do you have now?

      Reply

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