if youre ever in a bind, use it

it was a long bus ride, perhaps this time last year. wandering with the randomness of other travelers and sharing the backpacks full of memories with our single-serving friends along the long flat and lightning-illuminated roads of central USA, and i meet a friend from the connection. where are you going? and where are you from? are no longer questions but annecdotal backgrounds to the hum of the greyhound bus as 30-40 strangers sink deeply into the turbulant storms that occur in the flattest part of the world. but we have a connection that is true and sacred. somehow it is as if these people were traveling together in all walks of travel and by every definition of 'wandering'. we trust each other but never turn a blind eye to our pocketbooks or half full packs of cigarettes. that is.. not until we've broken down and lowered our barriers of unease and distrust. in this breaking down comes a forever friendship that is unlike most others. it is a plant that does not need to be nourished with phone calls and wedding invitations yet one that seems to say, 'if youre ever in a bind, here is my number, use it'. i cherish these stories and too often i've forgotten the heartland of turbulant highways that have brought me to where i am today. too often i forget the sensation of morning grease on my eyelids from 36 hours of sleepless travel; sleepless, yet dreaming the entire time.