vacation (1)

10 SABINE HILDING
“That guy!” she was talking to herself. “He’s so disorganized! He could have seen
this coming,” her voice had a note of hysteria. She meant Chris, their trip organizer.
“He knows what I’m driving. I ought to have known better than to trust him.”
“Yes, mom,” he said.
“We’re stopping for a while....”
They were on top of a wide mesa, with sage in shallow valleys and huge empty
spaces in the distance. There were interesting islands of black boulders and open
sandy places in a yellow sea of cheat grass.
Suddenly, he was eager to get out and explore.
“ALL THAT PLANNING....” she mumbled. “This trip is just pfft!” He waited and
didn’t want to strike a wrong chord. After a minute, she said, “Go ahead. Check out
the ants...”
Yes indeed! He dove happily into the muddle in the back seat to locate Hymenoptera
of the Eastern Oregon Desert—a museum pamphlet packed for their trip.