A Portal….to a Truck Stop – That Sounds About Right (Part A: Bathroom Portals)

 

I think this entry is best broken into three parts.  In the words of Buzz from Home Alone, “A, 2 and D.”  Part A:  Bathroom Portals, Part 2: Life Right Now and Part D: The Conclusion.

 Part A:  Bathroom Portals

 A dear friend once told me that bathrooms are portals – portals to other dimensions, realms, or alternate realities.  Fundamentally suggesting a shortcut connecting two separate points in spacetime.  Besides hearing Doc’s voice in my head from Back to the Future, (“coming face to face with herself thirty years older would put her into shock and she'd simply pass out. Or, the encounter could create a time paradox, the result of which could cause a chain reaction that would unravel the very fabric of the space-time continuum and destroy the entire universe!”), the idea of portals has always intrigued me.  Traveling faster than the speed of light, or possibly being able to gain insight into the truly magical universe and/or expanding my understanding of energy, my existence. etc.…those are big beautiful, mind-expanding thoughts that are fun to toy with. 

 To be honest, I didn’t give bathroom portals much thought until we moved into the house we currently live in.  Since the day we moved in, every time I use the master bathroom toilet, there is a distinct rumble – like that of a semi idling somewhere close by.  It matters not if it is the middle of the day or the dead of night.  In the beginning, I would spend a few minutes wandering around looking for the source of the low frequency noise.  I looked in the basement, adjoining rooms and over the back fence thinking there might have been a truck parked back there along the street.  I even crawled into the hall closet on the opposite side of the wall and once, poked my head up into the attic to no avail.  The sound was/is only noticeable if I am quietly perched on my potty.  Weird.  But I became accustomed to it and lost interest over time.  It just was. 

 For now, let’s put a pin in this “portal” business.  I’ll circle back around to this portal reference in a later post.  But, for now… on to Part 2.



Today is April 10th.  Today my dad has been gone for 21 years.  In honor of him, and how much he liked road trips and sharing factoids with us, I am adding a picture of the Dixie Truck Stop in McLean, IL - known as America's First Truck Stop.  

In 1928, J.P. Walters and John Geske rented part of a mechanic’s garage here to sell sandwiches to Route 66 travelers and truckers.  By the 1930’s, the operation had grown to a full-fledged restaurant, cabins, and a cattle pen.  The Dixie was owned and operated by the Geske family from 1928-2003 and was only closed one day after a fire in 1965. The truck stop has changed hands, but still serves travelers along Route 66 and I-55, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.



 

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