(east/west, day five: Oklahoma City)
A day of rest today is in fact what’s called for
And I take the day to shake off the fatigue of the road
Not the usual “Shabbos” that I don’t roll for
But still an opportunity to loosen my load
I took the last room, even though it was a smoker
But it was better to take it than go look for somewhere else
It was worth the extra bucks, though now I’m that much broker
Guess I’ll go downstairs and have some dinner by myself
Oh Sabbath
Oh peaceful restful Sabbath
Oh blissful joyful Sabbath
of blessed sweet relief.
The hotel’s booked solid with a church lady convention
Well isn’t that special—such a divine time!
I watch from a distance and keep my belief in suspension
As I read the local papers at dinnertime
Seems the whole state’s full of people who want to convert me
And nobody questions whether in fact it’s OK
But so help me, my faith will never desert me
No matter what anyone here in the bible belt may say
Oh Sabbath
Oh great and holy Sabbath
Oh light and lovely Sabbath
It beggars all belief.
And I realize how terribly I miss my family
When I’m pausing for a break in the midst of the ride
I may not think of it much while I’m busy driving
But it’ll be great to rejoin them when I reach the other side.
So what do I do to keep myself occupied
In this time and place I’ve chosen to stay
Glad I didn’t take a room in that dive by the rodeside
Otherwise I’d have hit the road today
Now what’s to do in a strange town on a Saturday night
What’s there to do when I’m out on my own
Do I check out the bands and trip the party lights
It just don’t feel right to be doing things alone
Maybe this isn’t the greatest occasion
I need to gather my strength for what still lies ahead
So I don’t think I’ll go out, I believe I’ll stay in
Say Have a good week, and then just go to bed
Oh Sabbath
It was a relaxing Sabbath
And now it’s after Sabbath
Oh blessed sweet relief.
Oh Sabbath
I didn’t roll this Sabbath
I’m glad I took this Sabbath
Though it was all too brief.
©2024 The Hesh Inc.
I reached Oklahoma City in the midafternoon on Friday, June 20, after about ten hours rattling and bouncing along I-40 from eastern Arkansas, and checked in to the first hotel where I could park my truck/van combo. I took the last available room in the hotel ... it was a smoking room, but I took it anyway rather than go hunt for another hotel in the bedraggled condition I was in. I had looked in the local phone book for anything Jewish related that might able to assist me in actually keeping Shabbos on the road, but I found nothing, so I was left to improvise. To make things more interesting, the hotel was filled with the participants of a Lutheran women's convention, so I shared the premises with a lobbyful of Midwestern Dana Carveys ... "now isn't that special." Reading the local paper over dinner, I came upon an article dealing with the subject of how to convert the Jews. Not whether in fact it's OK to do so ... that was a given ... but rather how to go about it. I'm glad I was not the test case there in that hotel that weekend; I'm sure some of the locals would have loved to try. Maybe I couldn't keep Shabbos the way I normally would, but G-d had a way of reminding me of the importance of staying Jewish ... even in a place like the buckle of the Bible Belt.
Shomer Shabbos or not, I made it my business to stay off the road on Saturday and spent the whole day resting and relaxing ... it would have been great to hang out by the pool, especially in the 90-degree weather, but alas, I had left my bathing suit inside the truck. Oh well. Shabbat shalom and shavua tov, y'all ... next stop, Texas.