i have been caretaker for a 10 foot tall circle since february, when i drove it down from a city in vermont about an hour from the canadian border. north to south, border to border. we painted it red and applied vinyl letters to advertise our cause. we met four or five former inmates who shared time with herman & albert. we met supporters and talked to strangers.

the vehicle was sold recently, to a pizza shop back in that town an hour south of canada, so i had to drive it two-thousand miles back up. i carried some friends north, one moving and one traveling. i passed through horse pens 40 in alabama, ida in tennessee, asheville in carolina, saltville in appalachia, delaware water gap in pennsylvania, ithaca in new york, williamstown in massachusetts, and finally burlington in vermont. about thirty minutes from dropping the vehicle off forever, when a great weight would be lifted from my shoulders, the vehicle was driven through a self-service car wash garage bay only 8 feet high. smash.

god bless her heart, the driver was so well intentioned, but just didn’t see it coming. we wait now for the insurance company to assess the situation, but still caught our southbound train the next day, carrying us away from that responsibility and eventually separating us and ending our week-long roadtrip when i got off the train in amhurst, massachusetts and she continued on to nyc.