New Life in New England

I guess, to start things off, hitchhiking on the east coast is not nearly as hard as I had anticipated. I started off right in Queens, and got picked up within ten minutes to make it over the bridge and onto I-95. From there, it took me about four rides to make it to Providence, RI. Again, not to offend anyone that may enjoy it, but FUCK Rhode Island, capital letters and everything. This smelly gray town topped my personal record for waiting in any one place. At 5 1/2 hours, it knocks St. George, UT off it's worthless throne. Technically, Utah still holds the record for longest without a ride, because about 3 1/2 hours in, I got picked up by a really nice guy (that had a dready son) in his BMW and dropped off on the other side of town, where i waited the additional two hours. After that though, a couple more puddle-jumpers* got me quickly up out of the fog to the hills south of Boston. It was here, finally in the sun again after several gray days, that i snagged my second golden ticket* of the summer. I'm not really sure why people keep deciding to go so far out of their way to help me, but it is very greatly appreciated. The only thing I can do is to keep "paying it forward," so if anyone, anywhere, ever needs help, with ANYTHING, my e-mail address is james.holzer@yahoo.com. Seriously, please let me know. So back to it, Erich and Toni, two truly amazing and beautiful people, decided to go about 500 miles out of their way to drop me off at Sadie's front doorstep in Orono, ME. I'm not sure how long exactly the trip took, but they dropped me off at 1 in the morning and turned around to drive all the way back to Boston, some 250 miles away. After I insisted, they at least let me fill their gas tank once, but then still bought me dinner at the restaurant in the gas station. Thank you again guys,may fortune shine brightly on you every day of your lives. So I'm in Maine. As per usual, its raining, and the weather looks gloomy for weeks. That doesn't matter though, because it is the summer solstice, and i get to spend it with Sadie and Leona Jenkins some of my favorite people on the east coast. It is Sadie's birthday, and her brand new, 8-week-old Shiba Inu/Lab mix is on her way, and Leona is inside making some of the most delicious jam anyone will ever eat. I've spent the last week since then hanging out with the awesome new puppy, and Sadie's supercool roommates. It rained most of the time I was here, but I was able to get some great pictures today running around in the sun. they will be up on here and on my facebook just as soon as i find a cord for my camera. we found this old civil war fort called Ft. Knox, and walked in until we couldn't see light anymore. It was super-spooky and super-cool. I definately want to go back with headlamps and ghostgear sometime. It has been an amazing week resting and recuperating with one of my best friends in the entire world, and her brand new puppy. They have a bad ass house that centers indirectly around the sustainable agriculture program at Maine University, and has almost two dozen chickens running around to compliment their diverse garden, all set to the backdrop of the lush old growth forests of "down east" Maine. Thanks again to everyone there for making my stay so pleasant. Keep up the great work. Tomorrow, I will head for Buffalo, NY to see a ten dollar Yonder show. I am very fucking excited. Its been over 6 months since my last Yonder fix, time to fill it. Wish me luck everyone, and thanks for following.




[editors note - 1. a puddle-jumper is a common term used for flights that are short enough to deem them worthy of the smaller, slower moving aircraft. When hitchhiking, you get a lot of rides that are only going up a couple exits, or only to the next small town. I'm not generally in the habit of turning down rides, especially if I've been waiting long, so from here-on-out i will refer to these kind of rides as puddle-jumpers.
2. a golden ticket is one of those once-in-a-lifetime, can't believe your ears kind of rides; the kind of a ride where you make a lasting, meaningful connection with the driver(s). Generally (though not exclusively) more than several hundred miles, and optimally, one that gets you to your current destination, or becomes your new destination.