Amarillo, Texas! It's snowing, and I've Never Been Colder! Cowboy Boots? (4 March 2019)

I've stopped driving because there's snow all over the roads, and I don't want to get into a wreck. I'm at a Wal Mart. There are a lot of tractor-trailers parked here, so, that makes me feel comfortable. I usually become tired of being in one place for too long. It is soooooo fucking cold! I don't think I've ever been this cold in my life! All I can think about are all of the raps about being "the coldest," and all of the rappers with the words cold or ice in their names: Ice T, Ice Cube, Vanilla Ice. lol I'm about to buy a blanket from the Wal Mart. My sleeping bag is a summer time sleeping bag which means it will keep me warm in weather above 50 degrees Fahrenheit. I'm not sure how cold it is right now, but snow is falling from the sky. I don't want to leave my car on because I'm afraid the battery may die, but if I get too cold, I'll crank the heater up. Or, I'll just hang out in the Wal Mart all night. I didn't realize that it would be this cold around this time of the year. Whenever I think of Texas, I always think of the desert, but apparently, way up north, it gets freezing cold. All of the cashiers have thick Texas accents, and I can't help but try to speak like them when I'm alone in my car. I did meet one girl in her early twenties who said that she was from Southern California. She said that she is from Orange County, and she is out here living with her boyfriend and his parents. I asked her a few questions about driving in the snow. Mainly, whether or not I needed to put chains on my tires to drive in the snow. She told me that I should be all right, and just be cautious. I've decided just to wait it out. I'm probably going to start driving south. Dallas/Fortworth is only a few hours away from here, and I think I'm going to go to Dallas, and, then, continue driving east on Interstate 20. I enjoy all of the driving. I've covered a lot of ground in such a short period of time. I've driven about 1,000 miles in three days. I'll drive for about 8 hours each day, and just hangout the rest of the day wherever I end up. I haven't gone to any bars or anything like that, yet. I did play my beat machine in the starbucks when I first got to town, and I started this wild song called "Starbucks Paranoia." It's not really hip hop, but it's something to listen to when you drive or workout. There are big steel two dimensional cowboy boots decorating the bridges. I think that cowboy boots is Amarillo's symbol. I also drove past these old junk cars halfway buried in the ground. They were covered with this gaudy colored graffiti. I'm beginning to realize that a lot of negative things that we believe about one another are usually huge misconceptions. Not everyone in Texas is a gun-slinging conservative. We can't just bunch an entire group of people into one category. When Trump says that Mexicans who come over here from Mexico are rapists, etc. That's a dangerous thing that he's doing. We can't just bunch an entire nation of people into one category. I'm sure the media is only showing excerpts of what he says to make him look as crazy as possible, and that doesn't help. But, as the president of the United States, with speech writers and tons of staff members who look over what he does, he knows what he's doing. That is a huge responsibility, and he should treat it as such. The things that he says in front of the people of this country matter, and he, as the president of the United States, has the power to bring the country together or to tear it apart. To imply that Americans with Mexican heritage and ancestry aren't Americans, or to say that because of a person's nationality, they have certain negative qualities and tendencies towards violence, is just dumb. What the fuck is a wall going to do anyways? It's a waste of money. Give that money to the homeless who sleep in the street and eat garbage out of the dumpster every night. Put that money into the mental health system. Help Americans, the people Trump wants to protect, live better lives. Invest that money into education! Fuck a wall! Does he really care about the American people or does he appeal to this hate and prejudice as a way to stay in power!? Why the fuck are we all so divided? Why is television so full of shit? Why is the news not focused on telling a story truthfully and honestly? This behavior reflects onto the people, and it makes our society weak and ignorant. Our leaders should be examples of behavior. They should be people that we celebrate not because they're rich and they have so much money that they make us listen to them, but because they live and behave in such a way that makes the world a better place to live. They should make us want to be better people. Trump does not make me feel like being a better person or treating people better, he makes me feel like I should be rich. He makes me feel like being poor is bad. Like there's something wrong with me as an American. Society criticizes those who tend to blame others for their problems, however, how can the blame be placed solely onto an individual? Is everything bad that happens to an individual, their fault? Is it that person's fault that they're not as rich or as successful as DJT? People who study sociology understand that there are many factors that go into the behaviors and choices people make. Anyways, I don't think it's going to snow tomorrow, so, I'll be in Dallas by tomorrow afternoon. I want to have a little fun while I'm there. I was in Dallas when I was 18, but I couldn't stay and hangout.

(Photo courtesy of Judith Baumann)