Through the Portal

When good is near you, when you have life in yourself, it is not by any known or accustomed way; you shall not discern the foot-prints of any other; you shall not see the face of man; you shall not hear any name;—— the way, the thought, the good, shall be wholly strange and new. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

It was 1964, I had just finished my Bachelors in Elementary Education.  I had determined to go to Washington State from New Mexico, but first had taken the family to Oklahoma for the summer and wait for the birth of our third child.  While there one Sunday afternoon while visiting a friend, asked "Do you know the best route to Washington State?"  My friend replied that he had never been there, but one of his neighbors has a son visiting there and he would know.  Immediately, I drove the '56 Desoto down the road, knocked, was invited in.  As I was telling the mother I would like to visit with her son, he walked into the living room.  I asked, "What is the best route to get to Washington?"  The man looked out the window to the Desoto that had a missing front right fender from a recent collision with a cow, and replied "Drive the Ford Ranchero that your car is parked beside and I'll give you the gas money to get it there.  When you get there I'll loan you a car to drive until you get settled in."  I hadn't told him that I had to put a quart of transmission fluid in the car every 50 miles and it was extremely thirsty and that I had just a little over $100 to make the trip and find a place to stay.

I had planned to leave two days later knowing that I would need to drive slow, carry at least a case of transmission fluid, hope not to get stopped for the missing fender, but had determined to go.  I knew I needed to be there for a few weeks to locate a summer job to earn enough money to get my family moved, locate a teaching position before the beginning of school in the fall and find housing.  I thanked the gentleman and made arrangements to get the Ranchero the next day.  I had a way to carry our family's belongings and get there with money to spare, WOW!

I didn't know a soul that lived in Washington, but had heard of an area that had recently been opened for homesteading, the last in the U.S. and that was where I wanted to go!  When I arrived five days later, a gentleman asked me if I knew how to operated a combine, he needed someone to harvest his wheat.  I took the job of course!  Three days later while operating the combine, two men walked out as I was unloading a hopper of grain into a truck.  One climbed upon the machine and asked if I was the guy that was teacher and looking for a position!  Later in the week I was offered a temporary job in a group home to be a house parent until later in the fall until the newly hired family arrived!

How bad do you want it? Imagine it, step through the portal, and until I stepped through the portal, willing to do so not knowing did I experience "the way, the thought, the good, shall be wholly strange and new."