Exxon At the Edge of Arcadia

Strange signpost of circling destiny - an Exxon station, perched at the crossroads of State Highway 95 and Farm to Market Road 1331. Almost certainly without its own knowledge serving as the gateway to Arcadia. Where life may be older in the body, but boasts youth eternal in the mind, heart, and soul. Where power, prestige, and wealth all wither away in the soft sunshine of familial love. Strange paradox that from the sunbeams of a quiet Czech church may come the vital fuel to power an engineer's heart in the midst of the sparkling glass of a city that never knows silence. For now, I am not sure whether I borrow from paradise to vainly chase its specter - or whether I borrow from one ideal to build another which may not be entirely worse ... though there is no denying that it is different. There may be pains in Arcadia, though they seem so far away to this weary man on a late spring day. 8 May 2022