Free.

November 18, Hugo.

It's been a week since the season ended and we parked the trailer at the Kelly Miller winter quarters RV park in Hugo.
Not traveling makes life with small children easier. It is comforting to know just where the grocery store is (around the corner,) and that it will be there tomorrow, too. It is reassuring to know where the library is (it's new and full of children books and activities and all decked out in a circus theme, for Hugo calls itself, in a self-important way, Circus City,) and that it will be there tomorrow, too. It is heart-warming to know that our friend Marcos lives nearby (it is never more than a few blocks away in Hugo,) and that he can stop by today and tomorrow, too.
But in some ways I miss the open road, in the mornings when the day is fresh, driving on and discovering the country, and there are surprising ways in which it was easier on the road, like the fact that there is not a public park with a playground anywhere in Hugo, or that, when I go to Walmart to let the kids loose in the toy section it will be the same sales clerk that will be there and he or she will soon spot us.
When you're constantly on the move you become erased in a way, and you have the illusion of being free.