This morning, I called the Goreville post-office promptly at 9 o'clock because they're only open for an hour (why? who knows?) on Saturday and I needed my tent poles to camp tonight. Tomorrow is Sunday so the post office would have been closed. The people were very accommodating and after the initial confusion as to how I could get the package, a man took the phone and proposed, "What if I put the package inside a plastic bag and leave it behind the air conditioner behind the post office?"
"Awesome!", I excitedly replied.
I slowly got the morning into motion.
I had a huge tub of white rice and two cups of coffee for breakfast. The impending consequences of those little cups of caffeine would not be realized until later. After I finished my rice, I went back upstairs where Bethany, Erin, and I very slowly got things together. Not long into packing my things, a jitteriness and haze began to cloud over my body. I felt like I was on drugs (which I guess I kinda was).
Leaving the church around 1045, I still felt extremely lightheaded and distant. I checked out two history museums in town before I planned on leaving.
Roberta Shewmaker (curious spelling, I know) greeted me with a smile and short history lesson of the building before I began walking around. The Marion Presbyterian Church was built in 1881 and served its purpose as a church until 2004 when members dwindled. As opposed to preaching to no one, the county decided to turn it into a county historical museum. I had a difficult time concentrating on each segment, unsure if it was my veins teeming with an overload of caffeine or the slightly disorganized presentation. Either way, Roberta was a sweetheart.
From there, I crossed the street to the Ben E. Clement Mineral Museum. This reminds me; Pastor Wayne, upon learning there was a $5 fee for the museum, graciously and unselfishly gave me the money for it. I protested but he insisted. Talk about hospitality.
Anyhow, the chemistry and mineral information went way over my head. Walking around the museum, and reading the presentations; it might have well been gibberish. However, stepping into the last exhibit, I ran into Claire who was explaining a wealth of information to these bikers (there's a biker's convention this weekend). They seemed rather uninterested and left the exhibit. Claire was no more than 17 or so years old but she wound up taking me through the museum again, making everything crystal clear. Her mother was a chemistry teacher and it was apparent where she got her brightness from. Now 1230, I got ready to leave.
Stepping outside, I felt no better than I had this morning. A heavy cloud was still hanging over my head and I couldn't shake the dizziness. Taking a second to attempt to think, I realized it wouldn't hurt to rest in Marion.
1. My friends Kyle and Maggi are biking to Marion today from Utica. 2. Staying in Marion means a shorter drive for Tom and Joe to pick me up. 3. Maggi, Kyle, and I spoke of splitting a motel if we ran into each other again. 4. I can leave my bike in the safety of the church for the evening while I'm with Joe and Tom. 5. Everything will work out.
I read upstairs in the church yesterday. Man, beautiful sanctuary.
The Marion Presbyterian History Museum
Am I blurry or just tweaking from the coffee?
Fluorspar minerals under black light. As Claire put it, "Each mineral has a set of electrons that are in constant motion around a center like how the planets revolve around the sun. When the black light is turned on, these electrons explode with energy, hence the colorful reaction." Again, I kind of grasped it.
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