One day more

The man from the magazine said I was on my way.
Somewhere I lost connections, ran out of songs to play.
I came into town, a one night stand, looks like my plans fell through
Oh, Lord, I'm stuck in Lodi again.

If I only had a dollar, for every song Ive sung.
And every time I've had to play while people sat there drunk.
You know, I'd catch the next train back to where I live.
Oh, Lord, I'm stuck in Lodi again.
        -- John Fogerty, 1969

It felt a bit like groundhog day this morning in Flint, Michigan.

I woke up on the extreme edge of a quite expansive bed – as if staged for a rapid exit. Though I had taken some time yesterday to consider how best to utilize one more day here, I felt rather disoriented and couldn’t keep the notion that I had miscalculated and that today, not tomorrow, was “moving day” and that I needed to pack my bags and get ready to go.

The tiny and indistinct display on my watch seemed to read “7-15” and, in my continuing confused state, I couldn’t seem to grasp the fact that I have already lived through that day – and more – right here in Flint City…

It hasn’t been unusual for me to become a bit confused about my travel schedule. I actually left one facility a day early last month (fortunately, my next hosts accommodated me and I wasn’t faced with the options of retracing my path or staying in a local motel).

The plan has been rather simple this month – I move on the “fives and dimes” (dates ending in “5” or “0”). This is what made my misreading of the digit on my watch even more confusing.

Now, the confusion was short-lived. I double-checked the date on a larger display and soon realized that tomorrow is moving day – I have one more day here in Flint.

One day to a new beginning
Raise the flag of freedom high.
Every man will be a king.
Every man will be a king.
There's a new world for the winning.
There's a new world to be won.
Do you hear the people sing?
        -- Les Miserables, 1980

Every member of my family, save me, was born in the state of Ohio. Tomorrow, I return to that fabled land for the first time, I believe, since 1968.

It was in Toledo (tomorrow’s destination) that I learned that Bobby Kennedy had been shot and killed in Los Angeles. That event lent a sense of urgency to my life and a desire to get on with things.

Perhaps putting Flint in my rearview mirror and returning to my ancestral digs will lead to new revelations, events or other discoveries that will one day serve as milestones in my life.

I kind of doubt that Flint will achieve that status – but I’m giving it one more day…one day more!