Well That Didn't Take, Did It?*

EXT: Eastland, Texas, off Interstate 20, 120 miles (200 kms) west of Dallas, 50 miles (80 kms) east of Abilene. Close enough to get the Abilene TV stations. That's excellent news for those who want to catch up on daytime Zionist Christian talk shows.

Courthouse Square: All Texas towns have one. If one needs a notary and Google offers nothing useful in response to "notaries eastland texas," it seems like a logical place to start looking. Since nearly all the store fronts on Main Street are vacant, choices are limited.

I-20 Bail Bonds and Pawn Shop. Gun shop too, but why waste space and paint pointing out the obvious?

INT: Conversation among three good ol' boys halts when white girl, wearing very un-rural black wool coat covered in hay and loafers, but driving a dirty white pick-up with three dogs in back, parks and walks in.

"Y'alls notarize things here?" [End of vernacular. Readers sigh with relief]

"Depends. Whatcha got?" asks large bearded man with tattoos standing behind counter, next to gun rack.

[First unanswered question: What don't they notarize?]

"I got a divorce here." She hands him an envelope.

"Come back to the office and sit down. I'll have a look."

White girl sits down in cluttered office. Large bearded man with tattoos thumbs through the thin pile of documents. Avoiding his occasional glances, white girl examines photos of local basketball star, most certainly large bearded man's daughter. To unasked questions she thinks up fictional answers more believable than the dry truth laid out in the document. Istanbul, Turkey. Irreconcilable differences between the parties have resulted in the irremediable breakdown of the marriage, Portland, Oregon. Eastland, Texas. It doesn't make much sense to her, either.

White girl signs. Large bearded mans stamps with the authority of a Soviet apparatchik.

"What do I owe you for this?"

"Nothing. Good luck."

"Wow. Thanks."

Good ol' boys watch the white girl in silence as she exits the pawn shop. She gets back in the dirty white pick-up, drives dogs back to the ranch in Gorman and feeds the cattle under light snow flurries. Then, she redesigns a blog. As you do.

*Yah, I know. If you read with RSS there's no noticeable difference. But it's a brand! We don't feel like starting all over again! And, although this Central Texas posting is temporary, it's a vein too rich not to mine. There will be more, at least for the next ten days or so.