ROAD TO ENGADINE

Later today I'll be back on the road; headed for Portland, where I'll visit with Mary, Kathy and Frank and pay a visit to the ocean before I turn around and head back home.  Last night it was fun visiting with Michael Hanson, who was eight years old when we lived in Oregon.  He remembers watching the Green Bay Packers' football games as we gathered weekly in Gwen's and my apartment.  Now, I'm getting restless again, and it is time to move on.  Being on the road has revived many memories of trips that Gwen and I took together.  This is a poem about a particular segment of our many trips to Marrquette:

ROAD TO ENGADINE

The road across

from U. S. 2 to M-28,

runs through Engadine;

Gwen and I took it often.

Today I’m alone in my car

as I make the lonely trek;

memories fill every mile.

There was a time

we drove through

a blinding snowstorm;

had to pull over, wait

for the snowplow.

Another time we were on our

way to Ann Arbor for the first time.

young and in love,

we had to stop at a park,

we did not wait for anything then—

anything except our wedding .

Most of the time

the trip through Engadine

was nothing but boring.

But, there was that time. . .

John A. Bayerl, August 17, 2011

I still miss you so, Dear, the sweet memories we made together are now a precious gift.