I rolled into my driveway about 1:35 p.m. yesterday completing a 994.7-mile journey to Indiana and back to pay my respects to my friend Art Harris.
The church was packed for the funeral Wednesday afternoon, but there were pitifully few Indianapolis News alumni present. Kudos to Gerry Lafollette, David and Lyle Mannweiler, Jerry Lanosga, Shirley Roberts, Jane and Matt Stegemiller and Jenny Labalme for showing up. Shame on those who could have been there but didn't make the effort. I'm pretty sure Art would have turned up at their funerals if the circumstances were reversed.
The service was the Episcopalian version of a Catholic funeral mass and it was beautifully done.
I also had time Wednesday to hang out with Crawfordsville Journal Review friend Lauri Shillings. She took me to lunch at Piada Italian Street Food and thence on a tour of her Fat Atom workplace. Her life has taken a turn for the better and it makes Maria and me happy.
The drives up and back were relatively uneventful. I was on the road yesterday a half-hour before sunrise and made excellent time, pausing only for McDonald's at Danville, Ill. and Kennett, Mo. and fuel at Farina, Ill. I startled a couple of birds on I-57 just four miles east of I-55 and one of them hit my windshield. The windshield was none the worse for the encounter, but it was probably fatal or severely crippling for the bird. The Lexus performed beautifully and gave me about 27mpg. It is, without question, the best car I've every driven for road trips.
Maria's parents hosted me for the two nights I was in Indiana and I repaid their kindness with dinner at Stookey's Family Restaurant in Thorntown where we each had a monster breaded tenderloin sandwich. I try to have at least one breaded tenderloin whenever I return to Indiana, since it's an unknown delicacy here in Arkansas.
No comments:
Post a Comment