1973
A lot had changed while I was tucked away at the Bottom of the World. Little did I know that inflation in the US had increased from 3.27% to 6.16%, largely due to the Oil Embargo (Arab members of OPEC restricting oil flow to any countries supporting Israel). The United Kingdom had officially begun a 3-day work week, due to unemployment and inflation. The Supreme Court had removed protection from the tiniest of US citizens, and the Watergate hearings began in Congress.* What on earth...
So I returned to a certain malaise, but did not realize it as I traveled northward on a Greyhound bus. One letter home described that for whatever reason, I had not had the 'privilege of a bath in four days'. Sad and tragic! In Lexington Virginia, I got off and ran to the nearest motel. Took a shower, went to sleep. I loved Lexington Virginia!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/velo_denz/3083473166/
But then en route to Cincinnati a girl took the seat next to mine as I slept, and I awoke to her massaging my arm. What!? I politely moved seats and watched her warily from afar (this clearly would not have happened if she had sat there before Lexington Virginia!).
I became aware that perhaps three weeks sitting up in a bus wasn't all it was cracked up to be. I tried to remember just why I had taken a 3 week sea voyage, followed by 3 weeks on a bus, struggling homeward when I could have accomplished this feat in TWELVE HOURS (one wonders).
Suddenly, acutely, I wanted my mother again. Although I was supposedly adult and beyond childlike needs, that didn't matter to me now. Things were out of kilter, and I knew it would be alright once I saw her.
I needed that motherly spoon full of sugar to help the rest of this medicine go down.
And THAT would be delightful.
Go Greyhound! (or not..)
the SconeLady
* 1973 info cred: http://www.thepeoplehistory.com/1973.html
photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/velo_denz/3083473166/">velodenz - 750,000 views</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/">cc</a>
What a shock it must have been to see the change only a year had made. "It came to pass" is sometimes my favorite scripture because it reminds me that these things do go away.
ReplyDeleteHow true that is! Yes it was so surprising to see all that had happened while I was away. And now, looking back at 1973 it was such a significant year in the US. Those early 70s were really an eye opener.
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