In the words of Willie Nelson I'm "on the road again". I hit New York running last week and since then have been in Minneapolis, highlights including a book signing in The Mall of America, the biggest shopping mall in America, complete with rides, big wheel, roller coaster, the lot, in the middle of it, and just every shop you've ever heard of, and lots you haven't. Not that I had time to investigate. But I'm not complaining, I had such a great crowd (one of whom gave me the most delicious B.T. McElrath Saldy Dog chocolate bar — total heaven) and was happy just a-hangin' with them!
And anyway, it wouldn't be fair to say I've done no shopping. Somehow in the often no more than fifteen minutes between engagements, I've managed to amass quite a collection (to augment my already overflowing collection) of kitchenware and items of culinary interest or amusement. And on top of that, I've managed to squeeze in a few eating opportunities, too.
I'm still a bit crestfallen to have failed a visit to the Donut Pub in Manhattan, though a chilli hot dog with disco fries from Bill's in the meat-packing district certainly hit the spot when I landed in the middle of the night, only a few panicked hours before an early tv wake up call the next morning. It's frantic, it's comic, it's fun and it's fantastic: life on the road is all made worthwhile by the people I meet and the real sense of contact and communication that's made. Plus there are all those magical surprise experiences - like the nighttime tour I've just made (after a hearty BBQ supper) of an enchantingly lit-up Kansas City in my own sparkling Cinderella carriage driven by Beverly and her horse Grasshopper.
Four hours sleep a night isn't conducive to enormously rigorous thought — so forgive my even more rambling prose style than normal — but I wouldn't have it any other way. Houston and Atlanta, here I come. Then home — as they say here — for the holidays.
This is the life! I'm lucky I have you to share it with... Thank you.
