{"id":2219,"date":"2016-10-13T14:08:09","date_gmt":"2016-10-13T22:08:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wordsmithwisdom.com\/?p=2219"},"modified":"2016-10-13T14:08:09","modified_gmt":"2016-10-13T22:08:09","slug":"the-hitchhikers-guide-to-happiness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wordsmithwisdom.com\/?p=2219","title":{"rendered":"The Hitchhiker’s Guide To Happiness"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>The Hitchhiker\u2019s Guide To Happiness<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

I met her while hitching through the western states.<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

She said she was \u2018drifting’, if I heard her straight.<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

She gave me a lift into Reno, where we stopped.<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

We shared a room to save on the cost.<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

We decided to travel together. We needed jobs.<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

We found them in a casino. We beat the odds.<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

I worked security and she was a dealer.<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

We lasted about a year till long hours defeated her.<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

We pulled up stakes and traveled on.<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Ended up in San Jose. I got work before dawn.<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

She painted and sold them on the street.<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Also at flea markets and at artist meets.<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

We liked where we were. It was quiet. <\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Till we got caught up in a Trump riot.<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

We decided to look for greener pastures.<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

I remembered a little place from last year.<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

We ended up in Pahrump. Not a lot here.<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Desert like country. Hot . I needed a cold beer.<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Little work to be found. Fast food or car wash.<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

In two months we left, at any cost.<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

We headed for an ocean side town.<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Much cooler for us all around.<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Fishing and work with seafood was good.<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

We had a good time doing what we should.<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

We came to depend on one another.<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Before she knew, I was more than a brother.<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

She became the most important thing to me.<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

We stayed\u00a0six months,\u00a0before we got itchy feet.<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

We went east and ended up down south.<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

The Alabama food was watering to our mouth.<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

We ended up in New Orleans during Marti Gras.<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Things were kicked back. There was no boss.<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

We liked it and wanted to stay for awhile.<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

We found good jobs and were living in style.<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

I started thinking of maybe settling down.<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

She looked at me with a funny frown.<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

She really didn\u2019t have much more to say.<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Then, came that wonderful, fateful day.<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

She told me she was in a \u2018family\u2019 way.<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

She was pregnant, she meant to say.<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

So, we decided to marry and settle down.<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

This would be our final town.<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

I am not sorry for the way it turned out.<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

You will never see me sit and pout.<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

I had all I wanted the day I met her.<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

It was the end of her \u2018drifting\u2019, that\u2019s for sure.<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

We now have two boys, who are doing fine.<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

I sit back with a glass of wine.<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

I said, \u201cLet\u2019s make a toast to their future.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cIf they \u2018drift\u2019, let them be true to her.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

“For they will find the girl of their dreams.”<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cLet them enjoy the road and all it brings.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

—————————R. W. Johnson—–(2016)<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The Hitchhiker\u2019s Guide To Happiness I met her while hitching through the western states. She said she was \u2018drifting’, if I heard her straight. She gave me a lift into Reno, where we stopped. We shared a room to save on the cost. We decided to travel together. We needed jobs. We found them … Continue reading The Hitchhiker’s Guide To Happiness<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,16,29,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2219","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fantasy","category-free-bird-poetry","category-life-lessons","category-romance"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wordsmithwisdom.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2219","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wordsmithwisdom.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wordsmithwisdom.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wordsmithwisdom.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wordsmithwisdom.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2219"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.wordsmithwisdom.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2219\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2220,"href":"https:\/\/www.wordsmithwisdom.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2219\/revisions\/2220"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wordsmithwisdom.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2219"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wordsmithwisdom.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2219"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wordsmithwisdom.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2219"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}