On the Conduit

On May 16, 1842 a small group from Elm Grove, Missouri decided to go west. They had a path. They had food. They had oxen. Their wagons were covered. Their destination was 21 hundred miles away. Their path was called a trail. Their journey was arduous. Thunderstorms attacked the prairies. Snow iced the mountains. Animals were far from friendly. Rivers were swift and slashing. Cholera baffled them all. The stars were brighter. The sun was more intense. “The wind was-a-howlin’ and the snow was outrageous.” It was the Oregon Trail. The country was smaller and Manifest Destiny was in play.

People have made this journey ever since. So I talked to a friend of mine (Tyler) and we thought we would try our hand at pioneering. We thought we would journey the prairies and gallivant the snowcaps. We thought we would put our footprints on this trail called Oregon. We have no wagon. We have no oxen. We have a little food and a sackcloth (suitcase) of clothes and books. Our wagon will be will be hauled by a ram (that is a Dodge Neon). And our path is not called a trail. It is called a highway. We are young men going west.

They were the pioneers, we are not pioneers. But we are going to Oregon. To Portland Oregon sometime in the next week to live with our friend Solomon.

I want to read Kerouac, Steinbeck and Jesus and I want to listen to Springsteen, Dylan and Young.

If you are worried about the details, please don’t be. Your worrying won’t do any good. You can help us by baking us cookies (chocolate oatmeal raisin) and giving us rent money, but please don’t worry. I’ll be worried, if you worry, and I don’t want to be worried. So I’ll quote my boy Bob Marley in “Three Little Birds” when he says:

[I] Rise up this mornin’,
Smiled with the risin’ sun,
Three little birds
Pitch by my doorstep
Singin’ sweet songs
Of melodies pure and true,
Sayin’, (“This is my message to you-ou-ou:”)

Singin’: “Don’t worry ’bout a thing,
‘Cause every little thing gonna be all right.”
Singin’: “Don’t worry (don’t worry) ’bout a thing,
‘Cause every little thing gonna be all right!”

In the near future if you want to try your hand at pioneering, you’ll have a place to stay . . . unless of course, you act weird. Then think three times before asking.