THIS IS WHERE I LIVE NOW

So, after Florida, I headed north. I ran out of money and gumption in rural North Central Illinois. This is where I live now.

This is the front yard. I know what you're thinking-- "Oh, it's nice!"

This is my "office", where I pull off to the side of the road to make phone calls, the closest place to where I sleep that I have cell reception.

This is the truck stop.

This is the library, where I check emails, update this blog and otherwise kill time.

This is the WalMart, where I wander at night in search of people I can relate to. One time I talked to a guy about the Cubs.

WOOLLY BEAR

I was walking to the car the other day when I noticed a nice fat Woolly Bear caterpillar on the driveway behind the rear right wheel.  I watched it for a bit and managed to take a few photos.

The Woolly Bear is the larva of the Isabella Tiger Moth (Pyrrharctia isabella), whose eggs hatch in the fall and live out the winter in caterpillar form.  It pupates in the spring and spends the summer as a flying adult.

Legend has it, of course, that the coloring on the Woolly Bear can predict the severity of the coming winter. If the reddish band is large, the winter will be mild; if the black areas are more predominant, the winter will be harsh. This is a fact.

I was worried I'd back over the little bugger, so I picked him up on a piece of paper.  He rolled into a ball and played dead.  I put him off to the side, in some leaves, and when I came back from my errands, he was gone.

POOL RESCUE SQUAD

One of my favorite things to do when I was living in Florida was to head out to the Cee-ment Pond, with the pool skimmer and the dogs, and rescue little creatures that had fallen in the water.  Mostly I snagged various types of wasps and bees, from tiny little metallic green things to big old bumblebees and hornets.  And I caught a lot of grasshoppers too.  But occasionally I'd pick up something more unusual, like the time I pulled out a wee black snake, or these amazing beetles:

I've never seen anything like this guy before.  (See below for scale.)

I picked this next fella up the same day.  He held on tight to the skimmer's edge while he dried out, and then suddenly took flight, buzzing up to the top of a very tall tree.

I lived in Florida for a month and then went on tour.  Heading back across the Florida stateline six weeks later I was surprised to notice that I felt like I was coming home.  That was something I couldn't have predicted.  But a week later I found myself on the road, driving north, homeless again.  I don't know when I'll have paid my dues.

I remember one time, standing out in the backyard on a moonless night, looking up at the amazing array of stars out there, the light warm breeze, the chorus of frogs.  I told myself, "No matter what happens, please remember the peace of this moment right now..."

So I try.

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2010 SUMMER TOUR DIARY: Part Five

Part One / Part Two / Part Three / Part Four

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Part Five: JOSHUA TREE TO DENVER

From LA, we headed east into the desert, toward Joshua Tree, where my old pal Chantale (Longtime Spit and a Half customers: remember Misery and Vomit?) had opened a charming boutiquey little bookstore called Mt. Fuji.  I love the desert, as you may know.  Here are some pictures:

Heading into Pioneertown, Calif.

Welcome to Pioneertown, Population: Wha'?!?

Noah ponders his new life.

View from the house.

Yes.

Joshua Tree

(Yucca brevifolia)

Cat who's name I think was Muji.

Muji's friend.

Forgot her name.

Down on the corner.

The Mt. Fuji General Store.

Noah reads at Mt. Fuji to a small but enthusiastic crowd of desert weirdos and outlaws.

I promised Eric at Giant Robot I'd take pictures.  Chantale was worried they wouldn't look nice enough!  Could this shop BE any nicer?

CATS ARE AWESOME.

"Pioneertown" was a movie set created by Roy Rogers, that people later moved to and made into a real town.  Welcome to America.

I mailed Izzy a postcard from here.

Arizona; the Saguaros appear.

Outside Tucson.

I think by the time we got to Arizona, Noah and I were at that part of the tour where you just wanna kill yourself.  Consequently there are not many pictures from here on out...  sorry.

Approaching Albuquerque, New Mexico, from I-25.

We pulled into Albuquerque late, and tried to sleep in the car, but drunk college students kept accosting us.  So we drove to a truck stop north of town.  We were both in a VERY BAD MOOD.

The next day we woke up, did the signing, where, of all people cartoonist Jason Martin showed up! and then hit the road for Santa Fe, the last stop on the tour.

Cheyenne, Bram and Monica's dog, in Santa Fe.

That night we sat around a backyard fire and shot the shit about comics etc.  The next morning we had another signing, and that was it.  We made the drive up north, arriving in Denver after dark.  I almost slept in the car out of habit, but Dan (of Kilgore Books) took me in and provided shelter.  For that I say Thank You.

Outside Castle Rock, Colo.; dusk.

TOTAL MILES: 8,816

And on towards my fate...