Two Tunnels

The reason I took so long to get from Havasu to Utah is because I had a ten a.m. appointment on Monday. I tried to write a song about it--Monday Morning MRI--but I got too depressed. Not about the song but about my inability to sing. If I had to give up one of my life-long goals, then singing career is the one that makes the most sense to give up.

Restless on the desert and beckoned away from grading by the gentle sun and happy Joshua Trees, I got outside to ease my mind and find some joy while I still could.

There was a reason why I was shelling out $450 out of pocket to take this MRI scan. The reality of it all just brought everything into focus. I thanked the Good Lord Jesus for Buena, the Joshua Trees, and a handful of friends praying for me. Truly, I was blessed. And if this is what is meant to be in my life, then so be it. Still...I pray for long life and to die in my sleep. That seems the best way in the end.

So I went outside to look at Joshua Trees.

Back inside the RV, I worked at the desk I'd made while at Brenda's. The desktop was a 16" x 1" six-foot board that I cut to fit over my toolbox in the corner and over the small slide-out table that I used to use for a desk. Now, the slide-out table functioned as support for the wider desk.

Although my occupied mind focused on the grading at hand, I lurked in the corners, between the alleyways made by opening and closing student papers, clicking and scrolling, thinking and praying, until at last...I called it a night.

At some point during the weekend, I penned what I'm about to share. I wasn't going to share it, but it's where I was in the moment. This excerpt is from the book version of this blog:

So...um...yeah. Everything in perspective. Going to the desert. There's something powerful about the desert. Jesus, Moses, and Elijah all fled to the desert. But they also brought something forth from the desert.

Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.

~ Jesus, John 12, KJV

So here we are, the tail end of the Mohave Desert experience, saying good-bye to the at the edge of the desert. It's time to step into something new, but first I have an MRI tunnel to get through.

With the MRi only taking 20 minutes, it wasn't as bad as I had thought it would be. Some of the clanging in the machine made a rhythmic sound, and I was able to fill in the gaps with a well-timed, lively rendition of "When the Saints Go Marching In."

At the end of the exam, the woman let me "take a picture of the machine for my blog," but she warned me not to get too close to it with the phone as the magnets can mess up a cell phone.

Returning to the RV, parked across the street, I told Buena, "Let's roll." After picking up groceries and using my gas discount at Smith's Fuel Mart, we started up the canyon along Highway 14.

A river runs along the highway all year, and this year the water gushed down with more strength as I made my way through the red and orange rock of the canyon. Starting the ascent up the mountain, the red rock gave way to greys and melting snow waterfalls alongside the road. At the top of the mountain, the deep snowpack lined the road.

North on 89 and then east on Highway 12 to Escalante. Once I hit Red Canyon, I passed through the other tunnel (actually two of them) stretching above the highway. Everything beyond that tunnel is the future I intend to build with this migration. I have several things planned, and I don't want to give it all away here because this blog post merely focuses on the tunnels through which I must pass.

Thanks as always for reading! I appreciate you! :)