Weird Things and Miscellaneous Sickness

There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy. -- Hamlet, Act I, Scene V


I've been on the roads a lot the past few days traveling to and from the conference. I always see strange things when I drive, but this week has taken the cake for odd. There seems to be a motif developing, though, and I'm trying to work out a possible symbolism for it. Everyday, I see trucks carrying 1) tanks (not the containers, the big heavy shooting machines), 2) fire hydrants, and 3) church steeples. Why? Of all the things eighteen wheelers carry across this country, why do I keep seeing the same three things?

Perhaps it's some sort of oracle. As an English teacher, my life is bound up in symbolism and allegory. What could they represent? Give me some help if you have any ideas.

I have also managed to come down with some sort of exotic sickness. I feel like I've been backed over by one of the trucks full of fire hydrants. It's the end result of me not taking good care of myself, and I guess it was inevitable. I need about 3 days in bed to recover from it. Don't guess THAT'S happening any time in the near future.

The leader of my conference noticed that my voice has gone all hoarse and froggy, and commented on my "paleness" as well. I hate to tell her, but I'm always pale. You might even call it one of my defining characteristics. :) Then again, there's really nothing, when you're feeling bad, like finding out that you look bad, too.

The one upside to this conference, other than the "incredible confidence I will have at the end" is that I've managed to produce 3 poems over the past 3 or 4 days. All the experiences from the UK/Ireland trip are starting to simmer nicely, and I've gotten a couple of beginnings down from them. They aren't finished probably, but just having the nascent seeds on paper makes me feel good. I also found a collection I did for my college creative writing class and am looking forward to seeing what might be gleaned from it. I know one of them was good enough to win a competition in college. Maybe some of the others can be worked on, too.