Valley Motel

• This is my room at the Valley Motel.

Today I walk east from Manistique, Michigan under a dark sky. The weather forecast says no more rain but this is obviously a lie. I resign myself to plodding along under some kind of pissage but then in the middle of nowhere is the Valley Motel. The sign says TWO FOR $40. I sit down for a break and the owner, Dave, appears and one thing leads to another and I have a room for $30. I shower. I blog. I read. In the afternoon I slump in the gigantic wedgewood blue La-Z-Boy. I crank up the footrest and watch the end of today’s leg of the Tour de France. There is a knock at my door. It is Dave and his twin daughters, Cassandra and Kelsey. They deliver unto me a plate of supper. He says, “We thought on your walk you might not get many home cooked meals.” It is hot and perfect.

• This is my supper.

Later Kelsey and Cassandra bring me a banana and doughnut for dessert. The evening is lovely, with a sky going deeper and deeper blue, and a small silver crescent moon.

• Kelsey, Dave and Cassandra

This article appears in Jul 15-21, 2010.