Carol's Mexican Night!

Good morning friends,

Happy Saturday to you and yours on this beautiful fall day, I write this from a warm and cozy basement in Greendale, Indiana. I arose early to check in before heading out to my Ohio gig in nearby in Cincinnati.  As mentioned in earlier post, I’ve been staying with a family from friends back in Tucson, working on the side repairing a garage loft while I complete my gigs in the neighboring states.

If I went back in time to visit my deceased mothers home in Arizona, this is as close as I would come in this world. Carol, although young enough to be my big sister, has opened her house and especially her kitchen to this grateful, weary, traveling tradesman. She has made me feel like one of her own, even kicking out one of her boys out of the basement, to accommodate yours truly for a few days! We had met last year back home, as I serve as her daughter Krista, regular handyman. My tour was just in the planning stages then, so we weren’t sure if the timeline was going to work for both of us once I got to the Middle America portion of my journey. Let me say I am sure glad it did especially my back and my tummy! I was fortunate that unlike Michigan, I found a gig the first day here in Ohio, just across the river forty miles one way. She has gotten up every day to serve me coffee and breakfast before departing and also making sure dinner is ready when I get back from work. Not only are the meals home cooked but she daily gives me a list of options to choose from, dessert included.  That is way too kind and loving and far more than I deserve, but I will take it all in to remain true to the book research portion of my tour!

I feel like her mothering type of approach has been good not only for my physical wellbeing but also for my mental disposition. I feel at home with her and her two sons, Chuck and William, both laid back and friendly. Talk about brothers from another mother as the saying goes, I get all three here in this abode. We sit around after dinner chatting up about many different topics and past experiences. Carol’s family has roots in Colorado and southern Arizona and the border town of Nogales, where I was born, so we have a lot in common, besides the love of family and Mexican food. I’m sure it will be difficult leaving here once it’s time for me to move forward as it has been with all the fine folks who I’ve had the fortune of staying with so far. I’m sure I will have regained the few pounds I had shed these past few months on this tour!

I had never been to this part of the country before, only flying over a few times in the past, but it does have a middle class, blue collar feel to it. The locals are friendly; the heavy traffic in the metro flows patiently, which is a good indicator to me of people’s attitudes. I suppose this is considered the conservative part of the country and although I don’t have a political dog in the fight, I see a great many Trump signs posted everywhere. From private homes to businesses and roads both rural and urban, last I counted: (for research purposes) 182 for Trump and 2 for Clinton, and the one of the Clinton signs was riddled with bullets! I also noticed a great many men sporting orange hair and some women touting chastity belts for some strange reason!

Anyways friends I’m sure I’ll have much more to write about once I’m done here and dip into the south once again. I wish you a great day and thank you for your support!   #Yo-Ga-Fla

JuanJohn