It’s Saturday night and I sure know how to pick ’em. Now I’m at an all night Denny’s, beside the Interstate, not far from Euless (I’m definitely missing someone). My family is at a Family Entertainment Centre – bowling, go karts, pitch ‘n putt, pizza, strobe lights. I know how much fun I’m not, so it’s best I didn’t go. We’re staying at a pet friendly motel chain called La Quinta, and once again there is nowhere to walk. Denny’s it is. I’m in here with my notebook for company. I see couples walk through the door, leading with their distended stomachs. They’ve lost their looks, both of them look like Fred Flintstone, or if they’re short, Mr. Rubble. I’ve been told I’m not being fair, it’s not just Texas, that people everywhere in fast food outlets have that look. That kind of startled me, and it must be true. I do not patronize these eateries back home either, haven’t read “Fast Food Nation” nor seen Super Size Me. So I just didn’t know. (I guess their commonalities are like a trail of breaded crumbs.) At tonight’s location the flag is in a large picture frame in the entranceway. Charlene keeps coming around asking if I need anything else. I know she’s dying to inquire about my notebook, and I kind of wished she would too, someone to talk to. But I’m feeling low energy, I can barely lift another french fry. The staff are wearing their black Denny’s T-shirts with the bouncy slogan on the back, but they all look beat under the neon lights. Seated here in a non-smoking booth it’s hilarious, I’m ten feet away from the lunch counter which is lined with smoking heads. The heads, under their white clouds, are swivelling my way periodically. I guess I am the stranger in a strange land.
I got the, “Say Hi to J.R. when you’re down there,” a lot before I left. Well, I picked up some brochures in the hotel lobby and one was for Southfork Ranch. TOUR THE MANSION & RANCH MADE FAMOUS BY THE HIT TV SERIES DALLAS! I could have experienced television history at the Ewing Mansion! Seen the gun that shot J.R., Jock’s Lincoln Continental, and Lucy’s wedding dress.
The other brochure was for the DFW (Dallas/Fort Worth) Gun Range & Training Center…JUST SHOW UP AND SHOOT! There’s a picture of a woman, got kind of the Texas cheerleader hairstyle, lots of jewellery and make-up, wearing some kind of bustier, aiming a pistol and smiling out toward the camera. Here are all the features that I just have to share with you: Luxury Indoor Gun Range, Shoot in Comfort Year-Round, Use Your Guns or Rent Ours, We Have Everything You Need: Guns, Ammunition, Eye/Ear Protection, Private Instruction.
About the facility…We pride ourselves in providing a comfortable non-threatening environment for our customers. We have a plush interior with oriental rugs and a seating area around a big screen T.V. with satellite hook up. In addition, we have: Indoor handgun range with individually operated targets and a clean air, climate controlled environment, State of the art soundproofing of the handgun range, Retail area with firearms, holsters, and accessories, Repair and custom Gunsmith shop, Concealed handgun classes, Security Guard training.
TRY RENTING A FULL-AUTO SUB MACHINE GUN
Sigh.
The family outing that I did participate in was going to the Fort Worth Zoo. I had no idea that seeing a rhino would bring me such happiness. In principle I have never been a supporter of any kind of facility that cages animals for our entertainment. But I went, we had excited children with us, and I was very relieved and impressed at how beautifully the grounds were laid out. Even though it was yet another hot, hot, sunny day there was so much bamboo and vegetation and old growth trees and there was space and cooling oxygen. Space for all of us human folk and the animals, too. The zoo encompassed eight full acres.
An odd juxtaposition, these thoughts tonight. I’ve got my ticket stub from the Fort Worth Zoo (and a terrific memory of a warthog sleeping in the sun), and know that at the zoo all these species of animals are cared for and protected. I’ve got the advertisement for the gun range and training center (use your guns or rent ours), which is where you go to learn how to kill one of our own species. I feel a great weariness. Kurt Vonnegut survived the obliteration of Dresden because he was in the basement of a slaughterhouse where he was being held as a prisoner of war. In his book “Slaughterhouse Five,” in which he described every madness and every sadness, he always ended by saying, “And so it goes.”
Good night Kurt. Good night you, and me, and all breathing things. And so we go.
Good Life
diane
Don’t mess with Texas! Love your site!