End of a Very Religious Experience

Today I deigned to make the drive from Dallas to Houston, a pleasant drive that breaks the topographic monotony of northern Texas, offering grassy plains, rolling hills, odd trees, and wild flowers over the course of roads that wind like some quaint English rivers. It is all very rustic and enjoyable. Except at night.

I intended to leave at 5PM and arrive around 9PM, when the last light disappears during Texan summers. Unforeseen circumstances and stops put by departure at 6:30PM and my arrival at 11PM. I had to make the last two hours on back roads and byways with 70 mph speeds and impatient people riding my @$$. The roads have no lighting whatsoever. The state does not seem to maintain these roads very well either, given that the stripping and reflective strips have all but vanished over time. All I could do was try to make out the grooving in the asphalt. Gas stations and stores only pop up every twenty miles. Combine all this with a red warning light on the instrument panel—which happily turned out to be nothing—and one has considerable incentive to start singing litanies and the Jesus prayer over and over and over again.

Happy feast of the Visitation to all!