Dogs have such a highly attuned sense of smell that, if a human had an equivalent sensory receptor, he or she would be labeled a super hero or super villain, depending on their political views and the current ruling party. YET…I have never seen a dog give even the slightest indication that whatever it was they were smelling was in any way unpleasant – no matter how god-awful. They would make the best scientists if they weren’t so stupid. They just want the information. The truth. They just want to know.
Speaking of God, I recently saw some graffiti that read, “God never fails”. Either I don’t know what that means, or don’t see how it is helpful. I mean, can you really grade an entity in a pass/fail system when you don’t know their goal? If every confounding happening is allowed to be explained away with, “He meant to do that” then maybe somewhere along the way, somebody is making shit up. We should have a dog look into this.
But, enough about that stuff, let’s focus on the important stuff – me. I finally broke free from the oppressive yoke that is the warm, loving, nurturing embrace of my lovely wife’s company. I may have to ban her from travelling until my mission is complete. Wherever she goes, I rush right to her. It is too difficult to keep tearing myself away. We stick to each other like Velcro. We even make the same sound as velcro when you pull us apart.
I drove along a stretch of highway that had a sign saying that this particular section of the road was dedicated to the Veterans of The Spanish American War. That struck me as…odd.
No more than 100 yards further was another sign honoring the veterans of WWI. Mmm’ok. Less Weird.
Shortly thereafter was a new sign..WWII – the Big One.
And, so it went. After a period of normal wars, it got weird again. It honored the vets of (and, I am not making this up) “The Cold War Era”. I think that means me. I sat up a little straighter. There were others. The final sign in the chain had the chilling salute to the vets of “The Global War on Terror”. And, once again, I didn’t know what that meant. Terrorism has always confused me. Back in my day, it was the tactics used to disrupt order by striking fear into the hearts of civilians. Now, that has come to mean a second-grader who chews his Pop Tart into a vaguely L-shaped pattern.
Don’t get me wrong, I am all about the soldiers. Hell, I never met one who actually wanted to fight. They avoid it at just about all costs. But, all this over-the-top honoring of said soldiers seemed to have the intended effect of never questioning the orders of those who actually pick the fights while they and theirs stay safely in the rear.
So, there I was, alone again…naturally. And, all this thinking about God and Dogs and superheroes, and politics had me thirsting for mystery and elusive truth. I went to Area Fiddy-One. (Translation: Area 51. Explanation: I’m trying to skew younger to attract a wider audience). The immediate vicinity around Groom Lake and Area Fiddy-One, is noticeably different from the other wide-open spaces of the great outdoors that is the American West – it isn’t fenced.
All of the rest of the country has barbed wire fences. Believe me, I have been all over and have been disappointed up until now. When you think of the West, you think of cowboys. And, if you are anything like me, when you think of cowboys you think of “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”. But, that makes you think of other great cowboys songs like, “Home on the Range” and “Don’t Fence Me In”. And that disappoints you because, they fenced the whole thing in. Except The Extraterrestrial Highway…
It is an open range, as is indicated by an official road sign depicting a cow being abducted by a traditional-looking flying saucer (pic related…)
I don’t have any pictures of Area Fiddy-One. This is mostly because the whole thing is hidden behind The Groom Mountain Range. But, also a little bit because they have signs posted saying they will shoot your terrorist ass for taking pics. Seriously.
Since I was already in the neighborhood, I went to the World Famous Little A’le’Inn…
It is a Bar & Grill/gift shop that really is in the middle of nowhere (Rachel, NV).
I bought Trixie a T-Shirt and then moved on. I didn’t really have a destination in mind. But, I find confidence in the notion that, since I haven’t an agenda, goal or schedule, each moment is the adventure. No matter what happens, I really can not fail. I think it is giving me a god complex.