Grand Canyon Solo Tour: Sleepless In Stillwater

I am unable to get back to sleep, tonight, having been woken by an incessant beeping noise that seems (upon attempts to track down and eliminate it) to be originating in a neighbor's house.

Beep-beep-beep-beep-beep-beep-beep-beep... You get the picture.

So while I have been lying here in the slightly warm air of my sister's living room floor, tossing and turning to try and find a position of rest that will blot out this infernal metronome of exhaustion, I find myself contemplating the long road ahead. Perhaps if I clear my mind of these wandering thoughts, distill them into words, it will help me find my needed rest.

Tomorrow, or really not much later today, I will be passing through a place of my youth. We were stationed at Tinker AFB from 1992 to 1995, living in a small town called Newalla some distance outside the twin metro areas of Midwest City and Oklahoma City. One of many places I lived while growing up, in an Air Force family that moved around every few years, and one of the most fondly remembered.

In the years we lived here, I was part of Boy Scout Troop 3, where I formed many good friendships both among the scouts and the scoutmasters. Notable among them were my best friend at the time, Daniel Smith, who later joined the Marines and grew out of touch while on his tour of duty in the Pacific... his father, Bruce Smith, a wise and humorous man who taught me much regarding life and laughter... and Allen Henry, a patient and kind leader to us all. With them and the others of my troop, I had many adventures in the outdoors, and under their guidance and encouragement ultimately accomplished the rank of Eagle Scout.

I also found the very first of many unrequited loves, in my life, while we remained in Oklahoma. An infatuation of youth, at the time, but no less potent to the psyche... and lasting detailed in my memory even now. It was seventh grade, my first year in another new school in a long string of school districts. Her name was Krissy Wells, a skinny spirited girl with short brown hair and a captivating smile. One of the few girls to show kindness in welcoming and always talking with the new kid in town, who kept mostly to himself in a shy intelligent way but seemed to draw in that fascination with the unknown (though I could never really seem to make it work for me in all the times I had the chance). I remember she stood up for me during math class one day, quite literally, and got kicked out of the class for loudly telling off the teacher who had been ignoring my raised hand for most of the period ;-) She was the first girl I ever slow-danced with, and the first girl I regret to have never asked to be mine... the next year, of course, she lost her fascination with the not-so-new guy and found it again with someone else less shy.

Ah, the memories of a foolish youth, so long ago. May they guide the man who becomes, toward better outcomes.

Oklahoma City is my last familiar territory on this journey. It is fitting, I think, that the gateway to new memories will be a place where so many old ones were made.