Home from the Travels

After almost 24 hours back in CH, the haze in my brain is just like the fog out the window. Whoever said that travel is educational was right on the money. I still am awed by the fact that 48 hours ago, I was in North Alabama, USA. Through the technical marvels of the jet engine, here I am now. Just when my brain will arrive remains unclear.

Just when the baggage will arrive is also unclear. The trains no longer bring it to the nearby village. That is done by trucks, so we will see what they do.

As usual, after a trip to the USA, I am a bit overwhelmed. The size factor is to blame mostly. Such big stores, highways, airports, cars, inventory, etc. The number of cell phones probably isn't any greater than in CH, but because of so many people, it seems larger. I never knew that one was supposed to make an immediate call to someone before the plane reaches the gate. Who are these folks calling? Cabs? Worried relatives? Girlfriends? Spending some time in a Walmart Super Store or a Target Mega-whatever is a hoot in itself. Shopping carts abound that can easily hold a small elephant (sometimes a small elephant is pushing one). People frequently buy a case of peas instead of a can of the item. I saw very little cash pass hands. I can believe the credit debit is in the statosphere.

I swear that the traffic in a medium sized North Alabama town at certain hours rivals that of the freeways in Los Angeles. Gas is cheap by CH standards, but especially in Texas, there is a Hummer at every intersection. Pickups still outnumber Hummers in Alabama. Gas stations are usually packed with customers. The number of restaurants is scary. Some are packed with people while others seem nearly abandoned. How do all these eateries pay the rent? I guess the same way that some of the empty mall stores do.

All along, a recurring thought kept swinging into my head. What happens when the gasoline pumps are dry, or the price is ten times what it is now? Gasoline is now over ten times the cost per gallon that it was 50 years ago when I began to drive. I am not a tree-hugging doomsayer, just curious.