misleading panhandles

texas has one big piece of a panhandle...other states have small ones- like oklahoma- and i would venture to count the boots of certain other southern states a cousin of the panhandle...but let me tell you...the panhandle of florida is one crazy bitch! i crossed the border thinking it could not be that long to orlando only to have a road sign with a big 180mi to tallahassee...by this time, i really wanted some weed...not that i'm an avid weed smoker, but at this precise moment, it was either weed, xanax, and since you cannot drink and drive, the "tonics" were useless to me...8 hours later i arrived in orlando...

i am a usually a big road trip person...this one just plain pissed me off...i mean really, how big do you think florida could be? the map of the panhandle was in some small square on the bottom of the page and i was completely disillusioned...reality slapped me with the road sign...

the first 45 record i ever bought was "centerfold" by j geils band...it was only then, when i heard this song did the world seem to align itself for me...the dashes in the road hypmotized me and time drifted on as i wove my way down I-10...

i hit gulfport, mississippi about 11 last night...i do not know why we have quit talking about the damage of the hurricane...it was so dark and i could see miles and miles of trash bags from the clean up of the interstate...debris was still scattered all over, road signs torn in half, billboards stripped of their advertisements and bent hanging in the air...somehow, we suppose (or rather i) that things are back to usual...where did i miss that millions of people are still without a home and the debris is still lingering and pointing to the fact that something has really gone wrong...God have mercy on my quick-to-forget heart...

giving a shout out from florida...peace to all