This post begins with a confession. Hustling down the highway to our next stop, stopping only for food and a few hours sleep here and there: it has been tough to fit in the time to find somewhere to shower. Simply put, none of us are showering as often as we might like to. There have been points where I was concerned that I stunk a wee bit.
Luckily Alex put me straight. For a while I heard him saying, "that's just your furmoans" in his hearty drawl. I didn't know what he was talking about. What are furmoans? Turns out what Alex was talking about are pheromones. They're a subtle part of the not so subtle smell we put out. They are a scent emitted to create attraction between people. In Alex's case, he's got a hunch his pheromones are part of why people love to hang out and chat with him. Maybe so, I've been thinking.
We had an amazing day in Sheppenville, Pennsylvania, at the Clarion County Career Centre. It's a place where students come to learn things like policing, culinary arts, carpentry, and most relevant to the ice road trucking thing: diesel technology. There was a long, patient lineup of students and community members waiting to chat with Alex all day, despite, or maybe even because of his "furmoans."
I found this all comforting. It helped me change how I felt about my own smell. I even started to feel proud of my smell. Until at the end of the day I congratulated Alex on a great day and he turned to me and said, "Good work to you too. Now go shower. You smell like a sled dog!" Now my stench complex has returned.
Big thanks to everyone in Sheppenville for an awesome event. Tomorrow: Ohio. And hopefully a shower.
Loren
I was there today and thank you Alex for being such a sweet person. My family all loves you so much. Alex I wanted to tell you personally that I called and told my step dad who is battling stage 4 cancer right now that I met you and you signed his Ice Road Truckers season 1 dvd's and my mom told me his whole face lit up with happiness. I am so glad to give him that little piece of happiness in this time of need. He too is a Veteran Trucker and he drove over 30 years of his life and is from Nova Scotia, Canada. But he moved to the states in the Vietnam Era and joined the USMC. He was also part of the Canadian Airborne too. Him and my mom drove truck for a number of years and I have seen most of the USA through the windshield of a Semi-Truck and I would never trade those memories. He loves IRT's and never misses the show. So thank you all for stopping in my small town today and letting us all meet Alex. Keep up the wonderful work and God Bless you all on your travels.
ReplyDelete(I wanted to make a small correction to your blog though, it is Shippenville not Sheppenville. I just wanted to point that out to you because I know how it is to not be from somewhere and when you read your writing yourself you never see the mistakes. Happens to me all the time.) Safe travels and God Bless you all.