065 - Sixty-Five

[TRANSCRIPT]

[click, static]

Hey Birdie.

I think—I think I need to get out of this park. Out of Wyoming. I still don’t understand how the hell you’ve been managing to reach me this whole time, no matter where I’ve been, but I feel like maybe—

[click, static]

Huh. Well, actually, I’m realizing that I’m not even sure you’ve been reaching me wherever I am. For all I know, you’ve been sending messages every single day for the past three months and I’ve only received a quarter of them. And you’re having the most frustrating conversation of your life.

[click, static]

If that’s the case...christ, I’m sorry. Here I am gabbing onto the airwaves every single day and you’re desperately trying to tell me something. Then again, maybe you’re receiving only a quarter of my transmissions. I guess there’s really no way to know for certain.

[click, static]

Whatever’s actually been happening over the course of our conversation, I’m pretty sure that I’m in a hard to reach spot right now, no matter what you’ve got rigged up. I think you were trying to send something the other day, but I was only getting every tenth beep, so it’s impossible to tell. But scanning through the channels every time I’ve come back to the car, it’s been almost entirely static. And less varying static than normal, which probably sounds like nothing, but when you’ve been listening to so much static, you start to learn the slightly different flavors of it. Trust me.

[click, static]

Anyway. This whole diversion has been...well. Diverting. I needed it, I think, on some level. I’m not entirely certain why, but I do feel more grounded. Maybe it was seeing that dog, or nearly getting caught in that tornado, but I’ve been feeling...

I’m feeling better now. So I’m gonna hike back over to my campsite, break everything down, hike back, and then get on the road. Leave national parks exactly as you found them, right? This place doesn’t need people intruding on it anymore.

[click, static]

I’ll get back on the horn when I’m on a major highway again. I hope I hear from you the moment I do. Whiskey out.

[click, static]